Quest for Power Series 2 Story of Flora's Powers
by hansbmd
Summary: The second story in my series about the Winx Club. Summer vacation is over and the girls are back at school, but when a new princess comes to Alfea and kidnaps Flora, the girls are thrown into a new adventure. Lots of moments between Flora and Helia too
1. Prologue: Princess Lilia

Hi everyone! I'm back from my vacation, and I'm ready to continue with my series about the Winx Club. Now remember, this is the second fic in my series, so if you haven't read the first one, I have to seriously recommend that you read it. I'm not going to be referring back to it much, but it sets the stage for why all these things are going to happen to the girls. You aren't going to understand the series if you don't read the fics in order.

Anyway, this takes place at the start of the Winx girls junior year. They've had a relaxing, care free summer and are ready to start the new school year with enthusiasm and energy. This fanfic and the ones following it are all going to take place in the junior year, except for the very last one, which takes place in the senior year. It's a lot to fit in one year, I know, but bear with me. Also remember, that Baltor has not shown up yet, nor will he until story #8, which is where I've worked in Season 3. We will get to Season 3 soon, but for now, everything's the same since Season 2, just like in the previous fic.

Now, we're going to start this story off with a prologue, and then we'll get to the main story with the Winx girls. Trust me, you need the prologue if you want to understand the story. This section is crucial! If there's anything in it you don't understand, just tell me, and I'll explain it in the next post as best I can. Happy reading!

**Prologue: Princess Lilia**

A thousand years ago, in the realm of the Lynphea, there lived a fairy princess named Lilia. She was the most beautiful girl in the kingdom, with chestnut brown hair, with lighter brown streaks in it that reached eight inches below her shoulders. She had tanned skin and green eyes and had the sweetest personality. One of her greatest qualities was that she loved to help her kingdom. She helped anyone who needed it and she never said no to anyone. Her people loved her because she brought peace and prosperity to the kingdom, using her magic to do many good deeds. She cast spells on the gardens to make all the plants bloom and never wilt. The kingdom was in a golden age and all her people yearned for the day when she would become queen and be able to take full control of her magic. She would then be able to do even more good deeds for her realm and would be a wise and just ruler.

But even before that, she learned that she was the heir to a great power, a power that no other fairies in the kingdom were able to control. It had entered her body once she was born and had waited for several thousand years to come to her. It had slept for generations and could only be controlled by the kingdom's royalty, but there had been only one other that was worthy to handle it. Lilia was the next one to use it and she knew that she would use it to do more for her realm than she could ever imagine. However, the time to use it came more quickly than she anticipated.

One day, dark magic entered the land and evil forces swept over the kingdom. They were led by a princess from Rampara, a neighboring realm. Her name was Earshra, she was a witch, and she was evil through and through. She had waste length, black hair, pale skin, and a bad attitude. She wanted to conquer all the realms and make the people her slaves. This shocked everyone, especially Lilia, for the people of Rampara used to live in harmony with the people of the 

Lynphea. There was even a gate between the two realms, so that people could commute between them as they liked.

Like Lynphea, Rampara had a great power that could only be controlled by royalty. It also had only been controlled by one other member of the family, in the days when the realm was good. But when Earshra was born, the power entered her body and was made evil. A wave of darkness spread over the kingdom, making her people slowly turn against their friends on Lynphea. Finally, when Earshra was sixteen, she led the forces of her realm against the neighboring one.

The forces of Lynphea fought valiantly, but were no match for Rampara's infantry. They easily overpowered the people of Lynphea and it seemed that victory was theirs.

Lilia had been watching everything from the palace, from her bedroom, from the towers, and what she saw scared her and angered her. She knew that her people could still win, if they were given the motivation and the help. She transformed into her Winx apparel, and flew out to help them. She wore a pale pink dress with straps across her shoulders and reached her knees with a deeper hue of pink at the top and bottom. She wore a pair of pink boots and snow white wings appeared on her back. She flew out of the palace and aided her soldiers wherever she could. With her help, the armies of Lynphea fought back and started to force the armies of Rampara back into their kingdom. But there were many more soldiers to face.

Earshra had been enjoying her victory, but her attitude changed when she saw Lilia coming forward to help her people. She knew that the only way she could really take over this kingdom was to get rid of its princess. And from what she could see, she was going to have fun destroying the princess in front of the very eyes of her people. She flew forward and attacked Lilia. Everyone else who was fighting stopped to watch the battle between the two princesses, knowing that the outcome of that battle would also determine the outcome of the entire war.

Lilia and Earshra sent their strongest attacks at each other, but they were very evenly matched, so evenly matched that their attacks negated each other and each sent the other sprawling backwards. The powers of their realm had been made by the same family, so of course they had practically the same energy. They could anticipate each other's moves and stop each from making some key attacks that otherwise would have been very effective.

"I will not let my people down!" Lilia told herself determinedly. "I can win this!"

"I will not be made a fool of in front of my own soldiers," muttered Earshra. "I must defeat this pitiful excuse for a creature."

With this behind her, Earshra let out a blast of energy, which knocked Lilia to the ground. Everyone thought for a moment that Earshra had won, for a black light was glowing around her, radiating evil and darkness. It filled them with remorse and despair, which was exactly what she wanted. Make them more pathetic and dejected and they would be more likely to serve her than to rebel against her.

But Lilia still had power left and was not ready to quit. She thought of her beautiful kingdom, how she loved it and all it's people, and how she would be able to do even more for it once she became queen. That was all she needed to gain more strength. She closed her eyes and let her power flow uncontrolled throughout her body, feeling it running like adrenaline through her veins. She did what hadn't been done for several thousand years, and gathered it all into one large attack, to be administered on her adversary. She began to glow a bright pink glow, which made Earshra look over at her in surprise, wondering what the heck was happening now.

When she saw that Lilia's powers were strengthening again, she flew forward, ready to unleash even more power on her. But she didn't get close enough. Lilia was ready to attack long before her opponent knew what was going on. She raised her hands in front of her and a large blast of energy was released from her open palms. She sent it to Earshra, and the dark princess was not able to handle it all. It enveloped her in a ball of light, and she was forced down to the ground, landing sprawled on her back. Lilia had won.

Her powers were not able to destroy Earshra entirely, and even if it was powerful enough, she would not have done so. She was not a princess like this girl was. She raised her hands again at her enemy, and Earshra's powers collected into an energy ball, which drifted out of her body and into Lilia's hand. This was not the witch's own magic, which was impossible to take from her, but it was the full power of Rampara, making Earshra just another witch without it. She then pointed her free hand at Earshra and sent her back into her realm, along with the rest of her soldiers. She then sealed the gate that separated Lynphea from the Realm of Rampara, so nothing and no one would be able to get in and out. She knew if the seal was ever broken, evil from Rampara would be unleashed once more.

Lilia knew that she could not control both her own power and the power of Rampara, so she built a secret chamber underneath her palace, and sealed the power away inside it. She then put all the best defense spells and cloaking spells on it, so that no one would be able to go down there and retrieve the magic inside it. She then flew to the highest point in the realm and used her power, the grand power of Lynphea, to restore the realm to its original beauty. She smiled in relief as she saw the plants coming back to life and the people go back to their normal lives.

As she got ready for bed that night, she thought of something that had happened early at the battle, something only she knew. Just as Earshra was being sent back to her own realm, she had said something very quietly. Only Lilia had heard it. She had said, "you haven't seen the last of me or my family. I may not live forever, but my power will. I know you will seal me in, and one of your descendants will have the power to break that seal, and at the same time, one of my descendents will be making her do it. Then, my heir will control this realm and all others and there will be nothing anyone will be able to do." She laughed evilly just as the gate was closed and that was the last Lilia ever saw of Earshra. When Lilia heard this, she was shocked at first, but she knew that neither Earshra, nor anyone in her family would ever be able to conquer all realms because good always triumphed over evil.

Deciding she needed more reassurance, Lilia got dressed, went upstairs to the highest tower of the palace, and entered a special room, the Room of Time. In the middle was a small pool of water that showed everything, past, present and future. She looked into the past and saw how 

Lynphea was created and how the power ruling it was established. She then saw how Rampara was created and how the people there had always been friends with the people of Lynphea, but turned on them because of Earshra. Something had gone wrong with the power of Rampara, and she knew something was going to have to be done about it, but it was not for her to do.

She then looked into the future and saw that Earshra was indeed right. She saw one of the future princesses of Lynphea, one that was exactly like herself in looks and personality, except with longer hair and slightly different Winx apparel. This girl did have the power to unlock the gate to get into Rampara. She was unaware of her powers and what she was capable of, but when the time was right, she would find out. She also saw that this descendant may have the power to release that evil, but she would also have the power to stop it once and for all.

"I'm not worried," said Lilia quietly. "I know that everyone in my family will always be on the side of good. This realm will always be in good hands. As I am the most powerful of all the princesses in this family, this power I have must be saved for when the evil of Rampara rears its ugly head again. When this princess is born, my powers, which will have hid themselves for all those years, will enter into her, and she will restore peace between the two realms, and she will become a great queen of Lynphea."

Seven years later, Lilia became queen and she ruled her realm with wisdom and kindness. After she died, her power hid itself away and slept for a thousand years, waiting patiently for the next person to use it. Finally, a thousand years after the great battle, the heiress to the throne that would be able to break the seal around Rampara and control Lilia's ancient power was born. Her parents knew at once it was her and were determined to protect her at all costs. They named her Flora.

All right, the prologue's over and we're back in the present day. So what did you think, good opener? Like I said above, if there's something you don't get, just tell me and I'll try and fix it. I hope you enjoyed it and keep an eye for the next chapter. See you later!


	2. Chapter 1: Back to School

All right, the prologue's written, and we're back in the present day. The girl's are about to meet each other after their summer break. So, enjoy the new chapter, where there's not going to be anything exciting, just a little bit of worry on Flora's part. Read and review please!

**Chapter 1: Back to School**

It was the first day back from summer vacation at the Alfea School for Fairies in Magix. A red haired fairy walked through the gates of the school and up to her room, her pet bunny, Kiko following her. As she walked, she was greeted by fairies she had known for the last two years, as well as professors getting ready for classes the next day. She waved and said hello to them all, basking in the feeling that it was good to be back. She arrived at the set of rooms she shared with her best friends, and couldn't help but smile as she opened the door. She walked into the suite, and saw that there was no one in the living room section that they all shared, but she could hear someone bustling about in her own room. She walked in and was greeted by the sight of her roommate, putting away her clothes and watering her plants.

"Bloom!" said her roommate, just as the redhead said, "Flora!"

"How was your summer?" asked Bloom.

"Wonderful," said Flora. "I got to see all my friends on Lynphea, I got some new gardening techniques, and Helia came to visit me. He took me out for a romantic evening: dinner and a walk through the royal gardens. Then he asked me to be his girlfriend. What made me nervous was introducing him to my parents. I wasn't sure whether or not they'd like him but luckily they did. How was Earth?"

"Awesome!" said Bloom. "I spent tons of time with my parents, worked in my mom's flower shop and saw all my friends. Of course, Mitzi made fun of all of us like there was no tomorrow, but I just ignored her like I always do. Where are the others?"

"Stella's in her room and the others aren't here yet," replied Flora.

"Stella was in her room," said a blonde fairy coming through the door.

"Stella!" said Bloom, giving her best friend a hug. "How's everything on Solaria? Did you do more interning for Teen Fairy over the summer?"

"Of course not," said Stella. "I don't want to go through that again. Having to memorize all those rules for fashion all over again would be a nightmare; it was a nightmare the first time."

"I never expected you to say anything to do with fashion would be a nightmare Stella," said Flora, giving a small giggle.

"You'd say the same thing if you went through that horror show last year," said Stella, giving a little shudder.

"When are we expecting the others to get here?" asked Bloom.

"I just called Layla," said Flora. "She and Musa spent the last week of vacation at eh beach, and are traveling here together. I haven't heard from Tecna, I guess she's on her way here, but I haven't been able to get her on her cell phone."

"No need for a cell phone, I'm right here," said Tecna walking into the room.

"Hey Tec," said Bloom. "How was your summer?"

"Marvelous," said Tecna. "I spent some quality time with my parents and went on a few dates with Timmy."

"What?" asked Stella, her voice expressing less disbelief and more outrage. "You got to see your boyfriend and I didn't? Why didn't Brandon come and see me? He does love me after all!"

"He couldn't exactly leave Eraklyon to come and see you Stella," said Bloom. "He is Sky's squire after all. He did have his duties in the palace. I know Sky would've let him go, but his parents are such strict people, they probably wouldn't. But I'm sure he wanted to visit you very much."

"Yeah sweetie," said Flora. "You know Brandon loves you."

"I just wish he'd say it every now and then," said Stella.

"Come on, let's walk down to the quad and wait for Layla and Musa," said Tecna. "The boys are coming in a little while too. We get to spend the entire afternoon together, just us and our boyfriends."

"Oh goodie," said Flora. "I haven't seen Helia in weeks."

"You're lucky, I haven't seen Sky at all," said Bloom, remembering the last time they'd seen each other before the vacation began.

As they walked downstairs, Stella said, "personally I can't wait to see how Layla and Jason are going to be around each other. Remember he finally kissed her before we all went home."

"That's true," said Bloom. She thought about the last few days of the previous semester; about how she and the girls had played a part in the boy's final exam, how Icy, Darcy and Stormy had kidnapped the Winx girls and taken their powers, how they had to fight hard to get them back and then the Red Fountain dance at the end, where each of the girls had been kissed by their boyfriends. What Ms. Faragonda had told them about them having more power than they realized was a distant memory. At the end of the semester, they thought all the adventure was over. Little did they know that they would soon be in more danger than they had ever been in before. And it would last through the rest of their Alfea career.

"What are you guys looking forward to about this year?" asked Flora as they reached the quad.

"I'm looking forward to potions class," said Bloom.

"And I'm looking forward to Transformations class," said Tecna.

"I'm just looking forward to shopping in Magix and spending time with my snookums," said Stella, spinning on the spot. All the girls rolled their eyes at this remark, and Bloom couldn't help but shake her head.

They reached the quad at that moment, and waited in the center for their last two friends to show up. Flora sat down and laid her head in the grass, just listening to the other fairies talking happily and catching up with each other. All she wanted was a little more relaxation, and a chance to see her boyfriend.

Suddenly, she gave a small shiver, caused by a cold wind blowing around her. She sat up and instinctively rubbed her arms to warm up. Another wind blew around her and she closed her eyes as she felt it sting them. She looked up at the other girls, but none of them had felt it. She decided not to mention it, but all the same, it was strange.

"That was odd," she said. "Why would such a cold wind be blowing in mid August? And why was it so strong? You can expect a gentle breeze sure, but not a strong, cold wind that you'd feel in December. I wonder what caused it." But her thoughts were broken when she heard the sound of two girls calling to her and the rest of the girls.

"Hey guys," yelled a girl with pigtails standing at the gate. There was a fairy with dark skin and dark hair standing next to her.

"Layla! Musa!" yelled Bloom, waving to them. "How are you doing?"

The two fairies ran towards the others with broad smiles on their faces. Both girls looked the same as ever, with Layla's dark skin and long, flowing brown hair and Musa with her short pigtails.

"Hey guys," said Musa, hugging Tecna. "How were your summers?"

"Excellent," said all the rest of the girls together.

"What did you do?" asked Bloom.

"I spent the whole summer working on some new beats with my dad," replied Musa. "He's finally getting back in the swing with music. I didn't think he'd ever let it back in his life, but after the Red Fountain concert, he's started writing new songs. When I saw him with a music sheet in front of him, I almost burst out crying."

"And of course I spent my summer doing all my sports and my dancing," said Layla. "I've got a great new routine, but the problem is that I have to keep it secret from my parents, and act like a princess when I'm around them. I just wish my they'd show a little more support for some of the stuff I'm interested in."

"Give it time Layla," said Tecna. "They're probably just old-fashioned."

"Yeah, really old fashioned," said Layla, a little bit of disdain in her voice.

Flora was about to respond when she heard a noise. The other girls all heard it too. It was the sound of levabikes speeding towards Alfea. They couldn't help but smile and laugh as they realized who was coming to see them.

"The boys!" they said together. A few seconds later, six levabikes entered the grounds and stopped directly in front of the girls. The boys all took off their helmets and walked to their girlfriends. Bloom ran forward as Sky took her in his arms and spun her around. He kissed her softly and said, "I missed you Bloom."

"I missed you too," she said, hugging him.

"Hey Stella," said Brandon, kissing her. "How's my favorite fairy?"

"I would be better if you had come to visit me at least once over the summer," said Stella. "A girl can't go on phone calls and text messaging the entire time. She needs to see her guy face to face every once in a while." On that last note, she crossed her arms and turned her back on him.

"I wanted to see you, but I didn't get a chance," said Brandon, trying to win back her affection. "You're my one true love, I thought of you every waking moment. I begged my superiors to let me off for a week so I could come and see you, but they wouldn't let me. Don't worry, I wanted to see you more than anything."

Stella turned back around, smiled and said, "That's just what I wanted to hear." She jumped in his arms and they fell to the ground laughing.

"Hello Flora," said Helia, putting his arm around her. "How are you doing?"

"Wonderful, what about you?"

"Better, now that I'm with you," replied Helia, making Flora smile and blush.

"Hey Tecna," said Timmy, taking her hand.

"Hello there Timmy," she said smiling.

"Hey Musa," said Riven, a little nervously. "How was your summer?"

"Terrific," said Musa. "I want you all to hear some of my new tunes. Just a sec." She dug through her bag and pulled out a few freshly recorded CD's. She set up a boom box and started playing one. They all spent a few minutes listening to her tunes, Riven smiling proudly at her.

"Thank you Musa," said Layla silently. With Musa distracting the others with her music, she wouldn't have to spend an awkward moment saying hello to Jason. He was looking as nervous as she felt.

The boys and the girls spent the entire afternoon together, catching up, laughing, talking, having a good time. When the night was over, each of the boys kissed their girlfriend (even Jason and Layla) and the boys went back to Red Fountain. That night, everyone was asleep by 9:00 except for Bloom and Flora.

"Are you ready for classes in the morning?" asked Flora.

"Yes and no," said Bloom. "I love it here but I also kind of wish we were still on vacation. I miss Gardenia so much and I miss my parents."

"I know you do sweetie," said Flora. "I miss my parents and my home too."

"But this homesickness thing will pass fairly quickly, it always does," said Bloom. "Once we get back in the swing of things, neither of us will have time to feel homesick. In fact, none of us will." Bloom yawned and fell asleep a second later.

"You're right," said Flora, but it was a long time before she fell asleep. She just couldn't shake the feeling, the very bad feeling, that she and her friends were in some unknown danger. It was a terrible thought, not knowing what she was up against. Just as she was about to doze off, she felt another cold chill, and she shivered under the covers. What she wanted was to tell someone what she was thinking, but the girls would think she was crazy. She swore the first instant she got that she would talk to Helia about her fears. But then, just as she was about to fall asleep, she got the feeling that she wouldn't be able to talk to Helia when the time came, nor would he be able to protect her, no matter how hard he tried.

All right, we've got Chapter 1 down, and the danger starting in the next two. We've got a new villain, danger, and tons of moments between Flora and Helia coming up in this story. But what's going to happen in the end? Stay tuned!


	3. Chapter2: After a Different Fairy

Hey everyone! All right, this is Chapter 2, where we introduce the new villain, and she makes an attempt to kidnap our favorite fairy of nature. I'm not going to tell you why just yet though, that will be explained in the next chapter, so you'll just have to wait. Happy reading!

**Chapter 2: After a Different Fairy**

All that week, the girls woke up bright and early for their classes, though some, namely Stella, didn't like the idea of getting up early and ruining at least two more hours of beauty rest. She complained, but the girls were all used to it by this point and just ignored her, and did their work.

Junior year was proving to be tougher than they'd imagined, even in their first week. They'd already had a test in the magical reality chamber to practice their Charmix, to just settle back in after the long holiday. Then they'd had lessons in just about everything, from complex potions to difficult transformations. By the time the weekend rolled around, all six girls were exhausted.

"I knew junior year would be tough, but I didn't think it would be this tough," said Bloom.

"You bet it's tough, especially on my manicure," said Stella, looking at her hands. She'd put fresh nail polish on them the morning she arrived, but now it was all chipped and cracked, and looked weeks old, instead of a few days old.

"We have to get used to the fact that they're going to work us harder and harder," said Layla. "I know none of us like the idea but there's nothing we can do about it."

"You're right Layla," said Musa. "The problem with that is there won't be very much time for me to work on my beats, and I want to write some new songs for the tour Dad and I are going on next summer."

"Work on them now," said Tecna. "It's the weekend, we have tons of free time."

"And we get to spend more time with the boys on the weekends," said Flora. "Helia already asked me to have dinner with him tomorrow night, just the two of us. He wants to get caught up on everything that happened while we were in our home realms over the summer."

"When is Brandon going to ask me out?" asked Stella. "We haven't been on a date in months."

"Chill Stella, you know he's busy," said Musa. "They profs at Red Fountain work the guys harder than they work us here."

"I know, but he still has to make time for his girl," said Stella angrily.

Bloom and Flora were sitting by the window, listening to the whole exchange. Both smiled and shook their heads as they listened to Stella gripe about how little she'd seen her precious boyfriend over the last three months. Flora stared out the open window, where she had a clear view of the quad. She wished she had a window that looked out onto her garden, but beggars can't be choosers.

Suddenly, just as it had a week ago, a cold, sharp wind blew through the window and swirled around Flora. She shivered for a second, and closed her eyes to keep it from stinging them. This time, her friend noticed.

"What's the matter Flora?" she asked quietly so the others wouldn't hear. They weren't listening anyway, they were trying to get Stella to calm down. "Are you all right?"

"Didn't you feel that?" asked Flora, though she thought she knew the answer.

"Feel what?"

"I felt a cold wind blow in here just now. And I'm not talking about a summer breeze here, I'm talking about a cold, sharp wind that you'd normally feel in the winter. I felt it just before the boys arrived the other day too. It's so weird, there shouldn't be wind like that blowing in August."

"What do you think caused it?"

"I think it's a warning, it means danger's coming."

Then both girls remembered what Ms. Faragonda had said to them the semester before. Neither had given it one thought over the holidays, but now, they were beginning to think that the danger was starting up again. Cautiously, Bloom said, "do you think we should tell Ms. Faragonda or the others? I mean, if something's going to attack us, we have to be ready."

"No, not yet," said Flora. "I don't want them to worry. Besides, I may be making a mountain out of a molehill here. It could be nothing."

"I hope that's true," whispered Bloom.

"Hey guys," said Musa. "What'cha talking about?"

"Nothing, just idle chatter," said Flora.

"Why don't we go outside?" said Layla. "It's a really pretty day, there's no reason we should be spending it in here."

The girls all gave signs of ascent, and walked out onto the quad for a little sunshine and fresh air. They sat down on the grass and started chatting about what their plans for the weekend were and naturally about their boyfriends.

"I can't wait until tomorrow night," said Flora, momentarily forgetting about her moment of nervousness, and blushing as she thought of her guy. "Helia hasn't told me where he's taking me. He wants it to be a surprise."

"Most likely it'll be someplace quiet, private and romantic," said Bloom smiling.

"In fact, there's a 95 chance of that," said Tecna, typing into her handheld.

"I'd say there's a higher chance than that Tecna," said Stella. "Say 100."

"I'm never wrong when it comes to these statistics," said Tecna. "It's 95!

They were about to start arguing, when they heard a voice say, "excuse me." A girl had walked up to them. She had deep blue eyes and long, jet black hair that reached midway between her neck and her back. She let it hang down, except for part of the top, which she had pulled back in a braid. She was wearing a knee length, white, silk skirt, a dark green peasant top, and matching heels. Stella sized her up and couldn't help but think to herself, "that girl needs some jewelry. She looks really plain just like that." But no matter how plain she looked, they couldn't deny that she was pretty.

"Hi," said the new girl. "My name's Guinevere, Princess Guinevere. I'm new here and I was wondering if you could show me where Ms. Faragonda's office is."

"Go through that door, turn left, follow that hallway and it's the last door on the right," said Flora.

But the girl hadn't seemed to have taken in a word she'd said. She was staring at Flora as though she was shocked. She took a deep breath and said, "Lilia? Is that you?"

Flora looked at the other girls confusedly for a minute, and said, "I think you have me mistaken for someone else. My name is Flora." She looked back at the girl and instantly felt a connection between the two. She knew she had never seen the girl before, but still she felt a bond and she couldn't explain it. It was the same bond she felt when she saw her sister Rose; it was almost like this girl was family.

"Oh I'm sorry," said the girl. "It's just that you look so much like this girl I knew a few years ago. I thought for sure you were her."

"I'm sorry," said Flora.

"Never mind," she said. "Wish me luck on my first day." They nodded, and watched as she walked off towards the building. But once she was out of sight of the girls, she smiled, a very malicious smile. Her eyes turned from that deep blue color to red and she chuckled malevolently, whispering, "so I was right. She is the one. She looks exactly like her ancestor and she doesn't know what she's capable of. This is working out better than I had hoped. Now, for my next task. Where are those three witches?" She disappeared a second later to find them.

While she had been thinking this, the other girls were wondering who she was.

"What was all that about?" asked Layla.

"Have you ever seen her before Flora?" asked Bloom.

"She seems familiar somehow, but I can't place her," replied Flora. "I'm sure I've never seen her before though."

"And why did she call you Lilia?" asked Tecna.

"I don't know," said Flora. "The name rings a bell, but I can't remember where I've heard it. It's something to do with my home realm, but I can't remember." She was silently asking herself, "who was that girl?"

Ms. Faragonda had been watching the whole scene. She knew what it meant, that the dangers she had warned the girls of at the end of the previous term were starting. "So, it begins with Flora," she said. "I hope she's ready for it."

The girls were still wondering about this ominous encounter when they saw six levabikes pulling up in front of Alfea. They stood up to meet their boyfriends, a little bit surprised to see them. None of them had called and given any warning they were going to show up.

"What are you guys doing here?" asked Musa, as the boys got off their bikes and walked over to the girls.

"We set up a surprise for you girls at the beach," said Riven, standing next to her.

"The beach?" asked all the girls together.

"Yeah," said Sky. "Come on and we'll take you over there."

"Hello girls and boys," said Ms. Faragonda, walking towards them.

"Hey Ms. F, did that new girl find your office?" asked Layla.

"What are you talking about Layla?" asked the headmistress, faking a look of confusion.

"A girl named Guinevere came up to us a few minutes ago, said she was new and asked us where your office was," said Bloom. "It was weird because she thought Flora was a childhood friend or something."

"Is that true Flora?" asked Helia.

"Yeah, but I didn't recognize her," said Flora. "But I knew she had the wrong girl as soon as she called me Lilia."

"Lilia?" asked Ms. Faragonda.

"You girls need to relax," said Brandon. "Come to the beach with us."

"Have a good time girls," said Ms. Faragonda, but before they left, she pulled Bloom aside. "Bloom, keep an eye on Flora please. Something gives me a bad feeling about this girl."

"I don't think there's anything to worry about Ms. Faragonda," said Bloom. "But I'll keep an eye on her just the same." But as she walked over to Sky's levabike, she couldn't help but think that the headmistress was right. Something had been very strange about that new girl, and that coupled with what Flora had told her earlier gave her a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"What's the matter Bloom?" asked Sky, as he saw the pensive look on her face.

"Nothing," she said, getting on the back of his bike and taking his extra helmet.

"If you're sure, then hang on tight," he said and they sped off towards the beach. When they got there, they found a picnic spread out on the sand, a bouquet of flowers in the middle, and a boom box just begging for Musa to play one of her CD's.

"This is great," said Stella. "We get to spend the afternoon with our boyfriends, having a good time to relax from lessons."

"I'd forget about relaxing if I were you pixie," said Darcy, appearing in the air in front of them.

"Yeah, we have some unfinished business," said Stormy, appearing next to her.

Icy appeared between the two witches and said, "when we get through with you, you'll be begging for mercy."

"Oh, just when I was beginning to enjoy myself," said Musa, very annoyed at the witch's rude interruption. She'd been hanging around Tune too long.

"And we're not begging for anything," said Bloom. "Let's go girls!"

The six girls transformed and started firing at the witches. The boys pulled out their weapons and joined them. Darcy however conjured a troll out of thin air to keep the boys distracted. It attacked them, while the witches kept pressing their attack on the girls. But none of the fairies were going to go down without a fight.

"Dragon Blast!"

"Sun Burst!"

"Aquarius Current!"

The three witches dodged all these attacks, but while their back was turned, Musa crept up behind them. "Sound Blast!" she yelled.

This was followed by Tecna's, "Digital Web!" The three were encircled in a kind of digital cage, but they had been practicing some of their moves over the summer. With a power burst from each, they were able to break free.

"If that's the best you girls have, this'll be easy," said Stormy.

"Venus Vine Wrap!" yelled Flora. She managed to bind the witches but they broke out of the vines within a few seconds.

Meanwhile on the ground, the troll was overpowering the boys. Jason and Timmy were lying on the ground, sporting a few cuts and bruises. Sky, Brandon and Riven were attacking it with everything they had, while Helia was trying to hold it still for them. But the ropes from his glove weren't strong enough to detain it. The witches had obviously put some kind of spell on it. Those three were having a very good time watching the heroes try and battle it out.

"I wish we could stay and enjoy this further, but we have work to do," said Icy. "Darcy, would you do the honors?"

"With pleasure," said Darcy. "Mesmerizer!" The girls were all knocked to the ground and back to their regular form; none of them could see a thing. She then raised her hand, and the troll disappeared in a puff of smoke. Before the smoke cleared, the boys all ran over to their girlfriends to make sure they were all right, but a second later they were all engulfed in it.

"I can't see a thing," said Jason, coughing as the smoke got into his lungs.

"You and everyone else," Layla managed to choke out.

"Can you girls do something about this spell?" asked Sky.

"Just give me a minute," said Stella. She gathered all her power and let it resonate around the area. Within a minute, all the girls had their sight back, but they still couldn't see two feet in front of them, because of the smoke. But Stella's rays shone around them, and she made it dissipate. But then the situation went bad to worse, and it only took a few seconds to see why. Helia was looking around frantically, worry written all over his face.

"Flora, where's Flora?" he asked.

"Looking for this?" asked Icy. They looked at the witches still floating above them and gasped. Flora was slumped over Icy's arm, unconscious.

"Let her go Icy!" yelled Helia.

"Why do you want Flora?" asked Bloom. "I thought it was my powers you were after."

"We'll be back for yours Bloom," she said. "But don't worry. You can have your friend back, as soon as we're done using her powers for one of our plans."

They started to fly off but Helia had his glove on and fired a rope at them. It looped around Flora's ankle, just like he wanted. He pulled with all his might, trying to get Icy to loosen her grip on Flora, but she didn't. Suddenly, a ball of light came flying out of nowhere and hit Helia, making him let go of Flora. He fell back to the ground, trying to make sense of what had just happened.

"What was that?" he asked, rubbing his head.

"That was me," said a voice. They turned to see the girl from before, Guinevere flying towards the witches, but she had changed. She was wearing a pair of black pants and a black sweater with off-the-shoulder sleeves. Her hair was flying wildly all over the place and her eyes were red. "I've asked these witches to help me with a little plan I've been working on. I just need your friend to complete it."

"And I repeat, what do you need Flora for?" asked Bloom.

"You'll find out when the time comes," said Guinevere, another energy blast in her hand, preparing to subdue the others while she made a clean getaway with Flora.

But while all this had been happening, Musa had crept around behind the witches and transformed again. She flew up behind them and just as that girl said the last part, she yelled, "Sound Blast!"

"What!" yelled Guinevere. The witches caught completely off guard, dropped Flora and she landed right in Helia's arms. "You'll pay for that!" She raised her hands to fire a strong attack at Musa, but she was ready.

"Musical shield!" she yelled. The attack hit the shield she had put up and bounced back to the four witches. They fell to the ground, giving the Winx girls and their boyfriends enough time to run for it. The girls transformed again, Bloom and Layla carrying Flora between them, and made a beeline back to Alfea. The boys followed closely on their levabikes.

The witches and Guinevere didn't get up for several minutes. The dark princess knew that once they got back to Alfea, she wouldn't be able to go anywhere near her victim. She muttered angrily after them, "this isn't over! You can bet this isn't over!"

All right, we've got a failed kidnapping attempt, three grumpy witches, 12 worried good guys, and 1 new witch. Man, we've got a story going here! Tell me what you think!


	4. Chapter 3: Flora's Heritage

All right, here's the next chapter, ready to go. This one's not exciting, per se, it's just a history lesson, but a very important history lesson. It's more or less retelling of what happened in the prologue, but this time Ms. Faragonda is telling it to the girls and guys. They're going to need this info in order to defeat Guinevere and the witches.

Oh, and queenofspades, there's a reason I named her Guinevere. I know it's not exactly the name of a villain, and something like Morgana would have been better, but there is a reason her name is Guinevere. But you're not going to find out that reason for about another three or four chapters. And what 'til you find out that reason, you're going to be so shocked! It's the biggest twist of the story.

**Chapter 3: Flora's Heritage**

By the time the girls and their boyfriends got back to Alfea, Flora had regained consciousness, and was trying hard to recover from the near-kidnapping experience. It had proved a great shock to her and the rest of the girls, and she was wasn't sure she understood why someone wanted to kidnap her for her power as opposed to Bloom or Stella, the two more powerful fairies of the group. The girls landed in the safety of the quad, knowing that Guinevere and the other witches wouldn't be able to hurt them there, not with the headmistress and the rest of the professors to protect them.

"Are you all right Flora?" asked Helia, taking his girlfriend from Bloom and Layla, and holding her tightly in his arms.

"I'm fine Helia, just a little shaken," replied Flora. She could tell he didn't believe her, but he let it go. He knew he wasn't going to get more of a response out of her. But she wasn't all right, and he knew it. She barely realized where her feet were taking her as she and others dashed down the hall to Ms. Faragonda's office to tell her what had happened. In fact, Helia was doing most of the walking for her, supporting her with an arm around her waist. He kept shooting worried glances at her, but she refused to meet his eyes.

Bloom knocked on Ms. Faragonda's door, and the entire group entered the office. When she heard the news, the headmistress said, "sit down all of you. Remember what I told you before you went home last term."

It took a few moments before the girls thought of it. Then it clicked. "You said that we would be in more danger than we'd thought because several evil witches and warlocks would be after our powers," said Layla. "I guess we forgot about that and thought the danger was over when the term ended."

Bloom didn't say anything, but she shot Flora a defeated glance. She didn't have any choice but to by Flora's warnings of danger now. Flora was now shaking a little bit, knowing that the wind blowing around her had been a sign of danger after all.

"On the contrary, you are all in grave danger," said Ms. Faragonda. "And it looks like those villains are going after you first Flora."

"Why me?" asked the flower fairy.

The headmistress thought for a moment, then asked her, "are you familiar with your family history?"

"Most of it," she said, giving a small shrug. "I was required to learn it when I was a little girl."

"What made you ask her that Ms. Faragonda?" asked Bloom.

"Because that's the first thing I thought of when you told me about that girl and just now you confirmed my suspicions by telling me about this attack," said Ms. Faragonda. "Now Flora, have you heard of a realm called Rampara?"

"That's the neighboring realm to Lynphea," answered Flora. "People used to commute between the two realms as they pleased, but then the gate to Rampara was sealed off, a thousand years ago I think. My mother still goes out to the gate to make sure it's still sealed."

"Do you remember why?" asked Ms. Faragonda.

"Dark magic conquered Rampara as soon as one of their princesses was born," said Flora. "Then when she was older, she led her forces against my realm. But we beat them thank goodness or else I'd probably be enrolled at Cloud Tower instead of here." The girl each flinched as she said that, and Helia gave a small shudder. He couldn't think of his beloved being some kind of power-hungry witch. She took his hand and gave it a small squeeze for reassurance, but it didn't do much good.

Ms. Faragonda walked to one of her bookshelves and pulled a heavy volume off the top shelf. "You're right," said the headmistress. "This is a history of your realm." She flipped through the pages until she found the chapter about Rampara. "Does this girl look familiar?" she asked. She handed the book to Flora and she gasped. She saw a picture of a girl with waste length black hair and pale skin. "She looks exactly like Guinevere. Who is she?"

"That was Earshra, the princess of Rampara a thousand years ago," said Ms. Faragonda. "She's the one who led the forces of Rampara against Lynphea, and tried to take over the realm. But she was defeated and her powers were taken from her. Rampara like many other realms has a supreme power, which is locked away in Lynphea for safe-keeping. I would say Guinevere is her descendent. Now look at this picture."

She raised her hand and turned a few pages. Everyone gasped when they saw that picture. A girl with shoulder length light brown hair, wearing a pink Winx outfit with white wings was standing there. She looked exactly like Flora except for shorter hair. They looked at Ms. Faragonda and she said, "that Flora, is your ancestor from a thousand years ago, Princess Lilia. She was the one who defeated Earshra and then sealed the gate to Rampara. She knew that dark magic had conquered the entire realm and it would be impossible for the people there to break it. She's also the one who took the power of Rampara away from Earshra and hid it away on Lynphea. That's what Guinevere wants. But there was more thing, a prophecy."

"What did it say?" asked Tecna.

"It was something Earshra apparently said to Lilia, just before the gate was sealed. She said that a princess of Lynphea would be able to break the seal around Rampara and allow the dark magic to go free," said Ms. Faragonda. "Not only that, but this person would be able to retrieve Rampara's great power, which would make Guinevere a very difficult person to defeat.

"And I'm the one?" asked Flora.

"I'm afraid so," said Ms. Faragonda. "But there's more. You are also the only one who can defeat that evil and release Rampara from that darkness once and for all. But it won't be easy."

"Nothing ever is," Flora said quietly.

"You'd have to cast a healing spell over the entire realm, but it would take your full power as well, and it would take you and Guinevere working together, and I need to do a little bit of checking on this girl before I tell you how you can manage it."

"Ms. F, if the gate to Rampara was sealed, how did she get here?" asked Musa.

"I think the spells on the gate have been weakening, helped along by her," said Ms. Faragonda. "She doesn't have much patience from what it looked like, so she wasn't going to wait for them to come down of their own accord. She must have cast some kind of breaking spell on it. Go on back to your rooms, I need to think."

"Tell us when you have the info we need," said Bloom. "We can't just sit here and let her go free."

"We won't," said the headmistress. "But in the meantime, I want you all to be extremely careful. If the witches get hold of Flora, they will do everything they can to use her powers for their own gains, and they won't let you anywhere near her. Guinevere is already very dangerous, but give her the full power of Rampara, and access back into Rampara, and as I said, it will be very difficult to stop her."

"Then we'll put protection spells up all over our rooms," said Tecna.

"And we'll keep an eye on her 24/7," said Musa.

"From now on Flora, you don't go anywhere by yourself," said Layla.

"Come on you guys, you know I can't live like that, none of us can," said Flora.

"Like it or not Flora, that's how things are going to be," said Helia, putting his arm around her. He was a little surprised to feel her recoil away from him slightly. Trying to get some brownie points back, and trying to show her he cared, he continued, "We just want you to be safe."

"I know, but you won't be able to protect me forever Helia," said Flora.

"Yes, we will. I just know it," he told her. He kissed her on the cheek, but she just pushed him away and dashed outside before anyone could stop her. They all stood there stunned for a moment and then Helia said, "we have to go after her. She won't be able to defend herself out there." He was already becoming frantic with worry at the thought of her going out by herself, but the girls quickly calmed him down.

"She's just upset," said Bloom. "Maybe we should just let her have some alone time. As long as we know where she is, everything will be fine."

"Are you sure Bloom?" asked Sky.

"Pretty sure," she said. "Tecna?"

"It's all right," she said, typing into her computer. "She's in her room and there's no immediate threat for miles."

"If you say so," said Riven.

"Come on guys, let's go back to Red Fountain, the girls can call us if they need us," said Brandon. "And you will call us right?"

"Of course," said Bloom. "We'll give you an update tomorrow and if anything goes wrong, you'll be the first to know."

"And you tell us if something happens at Red Fountain," said Stella. "We don't want the witches creating some kind of distraction like they did with the Codex." None of them liked thinking about the day the witches stole the Red Fountain part of the Codex. Creating the mayhem globe was bad enough, but stealing the artifact and putting that spell on Sky, it showed that they were really ready to do anything to get what they wanted.

"Okay, we'll call if something happens," said Sky. They boys left for Red Fountain a few minutes later, and the girls all went back to their rooms to find Flora lying on her bed, crying into her pillow.

"How are you holding up Flora?" asked Bloom, sitting next to her.

"I'm just shocked," she managed to get out between sobs. "I have the power to make all evil reign supreme over my realm. I can release the evil from Rampara into my realm, and there's no guarantee I'll be able to stop it once it takes over. I don't want to go through any of it."

"Flora, there's nothing you can do," said Stella. "Ms. F said you'd be able to stop it and you will, so just relax already and try to rest while you still can. Besides, I have a feeling you're going to have to go through with this, whether you want to or not." All the girls gave her looks that said she could have handled that better.

"Do you have to make remarks like that Stella?" asked Layla.

"Like what?" asked Stella.

"Like it doesn't matter," said Layla. "The tone of your voice makes it sound like you don't care what happens. You downplay everything that doesn't have anything to do with you and your looks."

"That's not true!" said Stella. "Someone tell her that isn't true!" None of the girls were able to back her up however. On the contrary, they all had uneasy looks on their faces, and were looking in opposite directions, mumbling about how they were going to keep out of this argument. "Come on girls! Help me out here!"

"Well, you have to admit Layla has a point, Stella," said Musa.

"She does not!" yelled Stella. The girls started arguing, not even noticing that Flora had walked off. She went out on her balcony and looked out over the land. She looked down over the quad and wondered if she would be able to do what Ms. Faragonda had said. She knew that the headmistress and all the girls believed in her, but she couldn't believe in herself. She looked in one direction and saw Cloud Tower. She wondered how long it would be before the witches would be after her again. She looked in the other direction and saw Red Fountain. She wondered if Helia was upset with her for pushing him away like that. She decided to go over to Red Fountain the next day and apologize. She wondered in the meantime, what would become of her realm.

All right, so we know why Guinevere wants Flora, now the next step is how Guinevere is going to get to Flora. If she's going to be at Red Fountain tomorrow, then that gives her opportunity, but will she act on it? Stay tuned!


	5. Chapter 4: Attack at Red Fountain

Okay guys, here we've got a fluffy moment between Flora and Helia, and we've got a battle scene between them and the witches. Action and romance all rolled up into one chapter, am I good or what?

And Crunchy Mallet, in answer to your questions about Layla, Jason and Nabu, later on in the series, Layla is going to change boyfriends. Jason is around basically because my stories only work if there's a hero for each girl. But Nabu is going to show up in about another 6 fanfics, and he's going to be Layla's boyfriend. It's going to be kind of an abrupt change I know, but it's necessary. Enjoy the story!

**Chapter 4: Attack at Red Fountain**

The girls woke up the next morning and went to breakfast, wondering what the witches had in store for them that day. Breakfast was a little bit of a strained affair, everyone a little formal and stiff, because of the argument they'd had the previous day. But one joke from Stella, and they were all laughing and teasing each other as though nothing had happened.

"Hey guys," said Bloom. "We just need to relax after everything that happened yesterday. I say we just have a slumber party tonight. We'll finish our homework early so we can have some quality rest and relaxation time."

"That sounds like a great idea Bloom," said Layla. "I'm totally up for it."

"Awesome!" said Stella, pumping her fist into the air. "It also gives me the chance to try out some new hair styles. Test 'em on myself, then I'll try 'em on a couple of you. Flora, if we curl your hair a little bit more, it'll make you look so hot that Helia won't know what hit him. And Tecna, I want to see what you look like with longer hair. And Musa…"

"Forget it Stella," said Musa, already knowing what was coming. "I'm not ditching my pigtails. I like them and besides, the me with pigtails is the me that Riven is going out with. I'm not changing it."

"I still say you should just wear your hair down period," pouted Stella, crossing her arms.

Flora just smiled and chuckled amusedly, but the mention of Helia reminded her about the previous day. She knew that he loved her, and would forgive her for just about anything, but she still felt really bad about shoving him away the day before. She'd never shoved anyone before, and she didn't approve of it. But she had been so shocked at what was happening, the whole situation with Guinevere, and almost being kidnapped and taken to who knows where. She decided that later that night or the next day, she would go over to Red Fountain and see him. She had to make sure he understood what was going on in her mind, because she had a feeling that she was going to need him over the next few days.

Classes passed slowly that day. Each girl tried her best to concentrate, but their thoughts were either on that night, or on the previous day. None could think about the lessons, but just about the danger that was coming to them. When they got back to their rooms, they did their homework in a half-hearted manner, and began getting ready to start their sleepover at a very early hour. It wasn't even evening yet, it was still mid-afternoon. There was a ring as one of their cell phones went off, and Tecna answered it.

"Hello?" she asked. She grinned and said, "Oh, hi there Timmy!" There was a pause and she said, "oh sure. Of course, I'll be right there. Bye." She hung up the phone, then said to the others, "does anyone want to come to Red Fountain with me? Timmy asked me to come over and help him with something."

"I'll come with you," said Flora, getting to her feet. She saw the hesitant look the girls were giving her, and said, "oh for Pete's sake girls, I'll be fine. Besides, I really need to talk to Helia."

"Can't you just call him over the phone and say whatever it is?" asked Stella. "That way, you don't have to worry about going out and getting caught by Guinevere."

"I can't just say this over the phone, I have to say it in person, I need to see him in person," said Flora. "I want to apologize to him for rushing off like that, and also ask him something else."

"I'm sure he understands about yesterday," said Bloom. "But I'll come with you. I need to talk to Sky." The girls knew she didn't have anything to say to Sky, but wanted to be there for extra help. In case Guinevere showed up again, it would be good to have Bloom and the Dragonfire around.

"Be safe!" said Layla as she, Stella and Musa waved goodbye to them.

"See you later!" said Bloom. She, Tecna and Flora walked towards Red Fountain, all chatting about their relationships. Bloom kept asking Flora questions about her relationship with Helia, while Tecna listened interestedly. Flora just blushed and answered them as best she could. With all the talk they were having about relationships, they wouldn't have noticed if someone was sneaking up on them, but luckily, they arrived at the school for heroes without trouble, making them wonder if they were walking into a trap. They wandered the hallways cautiously for a few minutes, but then found all the boys headed back for their rooms. They walked up to them and spent a few minutes exchanging pleasantries.

"What did you want to talk to me about Timmy?" asked Tecna.

"I need help with my computer," said Timmy. "There's something wrong with it and I can't figure out what it is." He led her back down the hallway to his room, all the while giving her details as to what it was doing.

"Good afternoon boys," said Bloom, saying this particularly to Sky, and putting her arms around him.

"How are you doing Bloom?" asked Sky, wrapping his arm around her waist.

"Tired from homework, and worried about my friend," she whispering the last part in his ear. He nodded, realizing that she had come to make sure Flora stayed safe. He shot a glance at her to see how she was doing, and saw that while she looked her usual cheery self, he could see that she was nervous and anxious.

"Helia, I wanted to talk to you about something," said Flora.

"Then come in here," he said, opening the door to the room he shared with Sky. He closed it for privacy, leaving it open long enough to hear Sky ask Bloom if she would care to watch him beat Riven in a sword-fighting match. The door was closed before he could hear Riven's smart-aleck remark.

"Would you like to sit down?" asked Helia, gesturing at a chair, but Flora didn't seem to have heard him. She stood by the window, and looked out at the scenery. It gave a good view of the forest, stretching out for miles. He walked up to her so that he was standing behind her, put his hands on her shoulders, and turned her around to face him. "What is it my love?" he asked concernedly, seeing the look in her worried face.

"I just wanted to apologize for yesterday, when I pushed you away like that," she said. She was stammering a little bit, but trying hard to control it so she could get her message across. "I…I was upset and shocked. I hope I didn't…" She stopped as she felt Helia put a finger over her lips. She looked up into his eyes and knew at once what he was going to say, and at that moment, it was the best thing in the world for her to hear.

"You don't have to apologize for anything," he said. "You may have forgotten what Ms. Faragonda said last term, but I didn't. That's why I tried to keep in touch so much over the summer. I was worried about you. I didn't know who the witches would be after first, but I promised myself I wouldn't let them get you. I don't want anything to happen to you Flora."

But to his surprise, this didn't do anything to comfort her at all. On the contrary, she gave a small sigh and turned away from him, so that she was looking back out the window. Seeing the forest below her reminded her of her home, and how she was going to have to fight to protect it and wasn't sure if she could. Know that Helia was waiting for a response, she said, "I know you're trying to make me feel better, but it still doesn't change anything."

"What do you mean it doesn't change anything?" asked Helia, looking at her confusedly. "What's going on Flora? What's the real reason you're so nervous?"

She gave a defeated laugh as she realized he could see through whatever story she told him. Besides, she would never be able to lie to him. "I can't hide anything from you, can I Helia? All right, what's really on my mind is how I'm supposed to rule over my realm as queen if I'm to help the princess of darkness take over. I'll be a joke of a ruler who can't even defend her own people."

"Flora, look at me," he said, but she didn't turn around. "I said, look at me." He gently turned her back around to face him, and held her gently but firmly, so that she wouldn't be able to turn away again. He then took one hand and cupped her face, so that she wouldn't be able to turn her head. He looked directly into her eyes as he continued, "You may be the one who can release that evil, but Ms. Faragonda also said that you'd be the one who could stop it."

"But what if I can't stop it?"

"Don't think like that. You're the only one who has the power to stop it and I know you'll be able to. You're an amazing girl, a wonderful friend, and the best girlfriend a boy could ever wish for. You also have so much power, so much good energy. You may not be the most powerful fairy in your group, but if you just trust your heart, you'll find that you have a lot of power there. Remember what I said when you were trying to restore the Flower of Life? I knew then that your heart had a lot of power in it, and I was right, but you won't always use it. If you just use it now, I know you'll be able to defeat Guinevere and save your realm. Good always triumphs over evil, always." He pulled her closer to him, and kissed her softly. When they broke apart, he saw fear and uncertainty in her eyes. But she saw confidence and belief in her in his eyes.

"Thank you Helia," she said, wrapping her arms around him and burying her face in his shoulder. He just closed his eyes and ran his hand back and forth through her long, brown hair, glad that he had finally gotten her to open up to him. He gave her a small kiss on the cheek for comfort, and she wrapped her arms around even tighter.

"Hate to break up this little love fest," said Icy, appearing out of thin air. "But I have a fairy to kidnap and a realm to take over." Flora and Helia jumped apart when they saw the witch standing there. She cackled as she said menacingly, "now, are you going to come with us willingly, or do I have to force you into a decision?"

"Don't even come near her!" Helia said, putting a hand on Flora's shoulder and pushing her behind him.

"Well, isn't that cute," said Icy. "The boy toy tries to protect his girlfriend. Sorry, but the girls and I are on a deadline here and there's no time for chit chat. Just hand the pixie over."

"Never!" he yelled. "Flora, go get help!"

"No, I'm not going to leave you here alone," she said.

"I'll be fine, just go!"

Flora ran for the door, but Darcy and Stormy appeared in front of her. "And just where do you think you're going?" asked Stormy. "We've put a spell on this room, so you're friends don't know we're here, and won't be able to come help you."

"Yeah, you're on your own pixie," said Darcy.

"I can take you witches out easily," said Flora, starting to believe what Helia had told her, that she had a lot of power inside her heart. Hurriedly, she transformed and began fighting the two witches, while Helia tried to fight Icy, the most powerful of the three.

"What are you going to do, attack us with your lame-o pixie power?" asked Stormy.

"Venus Vine Wrap!" yelled Flora, and from behind the witches, there appeared two sets of vines. They wrapped around their prey and held them there for several minutes. Flora could tell they were using several different spells to try and get out, but while she had them subdued, she could go and help her boyfriend.

Which was a very good thing, because Icy was getting the better of him. He ran at her, but she fired an energy blast at him, which knocked him back against the wall. He fell to the floor, trying hard to get back up, but he was out of breath and it took him several minutes.

The witch turned to Flora and said, "now pixie, are you ready to help us make our dreams of inter-realm domination come true?"

"I'll never help you!" yelled Flora.

"Easy to say that now," said Icy. "But later, when Guinevere is preparing to cast the spell to open the gate to Rampara, you'll be singing a different tune. Now if you won't come of your own free will, it looks like I'm going to have to drag you alone. Hand of Ice!"

A large hand made entirely of ice cubes soared towards Flora and she had no way of escaping it. It was almost upon her when she heard someone shout, "no!" and saw Helia jump in front of her. The hand wrapped around him, and he cried out in pain as he felt it cut off blood flow and restrict his breathing.

"Oh this is better," said Icy. "If you wait too long to give me answer Flora, this hand will crush the life right out of your boyfriend. What's it going to be?"

"Don't listen to her Flora!" yelled Helia, but the next instant, he had cried out again, as he felt Icy's grip tighten.

"You're not in a position to talk," she said.

Flora, by this time, was trembling with rage. How dare Icy hurt her boyfriend? She was going to make that witch pay if it was the last thing she ever did. "Let him go Icy!" she yelled. "Venus Vine Wrap!" The same thing happened to Icy as it did to Darcy and Stormy, and she was encased in vines, making her release Helia. He was allowed to drop to the ground, where he stayed for several minutes, gasping for breath.

Flora knelt down next to him and said, "are you all right?"

He nodded, and managed to choke out, "I'm fine, you?"

"I'm fine," she nodded. He gave a small sigh of relief.

But as they were about to get out of there and get the others, three blasts of energy radiated around the room as the witches broke out of their confines. All three were boiling mad that Flora had gotten the better of them.

"You are so going to pay for that pixie!" yelled Stormy. "Psycho Cyclone!"

There was nothing Flora could do to prevent it. She was swept up into the cyclone, buffeted this way and that, until she ran out of strength was dropped to the ground, back to her regular form.

"Flora!" yelled Helia, starting to get up and help her. But he felt something hit him in the back, forcing him back to the ground.

"Let's get rid of you while we're at it," said Icy. Helia shut his eyes as he felt an intense cold sweep around him. The last thing he heard was Flora's shout of despair as he was encased in ice and lost consciousness.

"Helia!" she yelled, as she watched him be trapped in an ice coffin. "Let him go!"

"We will," said Darcy. "But first, tell her Icy." Flora turned her head towards the ice witch, dreading what she was about to hear.

"I took the liberty of putting an extra spell on that ice coffin," said Icy. "Your boyfriend only has a few minutes before it drains all his energy. Not even that stupid sun fairy will be able to help him. She could melt the ice all she wants and it'll be too late. And if it's one of my ice coffins, you know that it's the truth. It's going to finish him off in less than five minutes, unless I decide to release him."

"No!" yelled Flora. She ran towards Helia, but Icy pushed her back. She lay on the ground, thinking rapidly about what to do and knew there was no other option. Hesitantly, she said, "if I go with you, will you release Helia?"

"I might, but then again I might not," said Icy.

"Please let him go, please," begged Flora, tears beginning to spill down her face.

"I don't see what difference it makes, you're not going to see him again anyway," said Darcy.

"She's right," said Stormy. "He's just going to have to spend the rest of his life without you anyway. Do you really want to put him through that, all the agony of missing you?"

"I'd make up my mind if I were you," said Icy. "Time is ticking for him and I won't wait forever. If you go with us willingly, I'll release him. If you don't, then we'll take you by force and leave him here. Either way, you're coming with us, so just tell us what we should do with him. You have thirty seconds to decide."

Flora knew right away what she would do. "All right," she said. "I'll go with you."

"Good decision," said Darcy. "Just hold still." She raised her hand at Flora and thick rope flew towards the flower fairy. Within seconds, it had tied her hands behind her back and she fell to the ground as another set of rope wrapped around her ankles. They were cutting off circulation to her wrists and ankles, but she didn't dare say anything and she didn't struggle.

"Let's get going," said Stormy, as she picked Flora up. "Tecna's here and if we don't get out of here before the spell wears off, her computers and junk will go off the charts."

"Well come on," said Icy.

As they were about to float off, Flora shouted, "wait, what about Helia? You said you'd let him go!"

Icy thought for a moment, then gave Flora her trademark grin, saying, "I don't see the point of releasing him. I only said that to make you come along. Don't worry. As soon as we're done with you, you'll be joining him." And in a flash, the four of them had disappeared.

All right, the witches have Flora and Helia is quickly reaching his end in the ice coffin. But don't worry, remember what I said in the first fanfic of this series? No one dies in my stories, they just have really close calls. So Helia isn't going to die, that's clear, but when are the others going to find him? What's going to happen to Flora? Stay tuned!


	6. Chapter 5: Guinevere's Story

All right, in this chapter, the method behind Guinevere's madness is explained, as well as the truth about who she really is. And, this is for you, queenofspades19, you'll find out the reason I named her Guinevere. You know, the last four letters in her name, "vere," that's Latin for "truth," which is really appropriate, because you're going to find out the truth. Happy reading!

**Chapter 5: Guinevere's Story**

Bloom, Tecna and the rest of the boys were walking down the hall towards the boy's rooms, blissfully unaware of what had been going on in Sky and Helia's room. Sky was walking with his arm around Bloom, and a smug look on his face. It was clear that Riven had won his swordfight with Sky, and he was gloating like there was no tomorrow. As they approached the boy's rooms, they saw Stella, Musa and Layla walking towards them.

"Hey girls!" said Bloom. "What's up?"

"We were getting worried, we didn't think you'd be here this long," said Layla.

"What's with that grin Riven?" asked Musa, eyeing him amusedly. "You only grin like that when things go your way."

"I just beat Sky in the best sword- fighting Red Fountain's ever seen," said Riven. She knew he was exaggerating, and that he was just saying it to impress her, but she liked it all the same.

"Where's Flora?" asked Stella.

"Last time we saw her, she was in Helia's room. They wanted to talk in private," said Tecna.

"They've been in there for awhile now, I wonder if everything's ok," said Sky.

He walked up to Helia's door and knocked. No one answered. He pressed his ear to the door, but couldn't hear a thing. "Helia are you in there?" he asked, knocking again. He tried the door knob, but it was locked. Suddenly, they all felt a kind of ripple throughout the air, which lasted for several seconds, creating a very cold, freezing effect. All the girls rubbed their arms to warm up as they felt chills run down their spines.

"What was that?" asked Riven.

"I seriously hope it wasn't what I think it was," said Tecna. They all looked at her questioningly and she said, "I think it was a cloaking spell being lifted."

"And does anyone else but me sense dark magic around?" asked Layla. It didn't take much to figure out what was going on.

"The witches!" they all said together.

Sky took a few steps back and ran at the door. He pushed on it with all his might and it instantly gave way. The ten of them dashed into the room and the first thing they saw was Helia trapped in an ice coffin. Tecna typed rapidly into her computer and said, "we have to hurry. That ice coffin is zapping his strength and if we don't get him out of there within the next minute and a half, he'll be beyond our help."

"Leave it to me!" said Stella. She threw the ring of Solaria into the air and took hold of her staff. She quickly started to melt the ice, but the spell Icy had put on it was stronger than she'd expected. "Looks like this is going to take a little more fire power. Let's go Charmix!"

With her Charmix, she was hoping she would have enough power to contradict Icy's magic, and thankfully, she was right. The ice began to melt faster, and within a few seconds, Helia was lying on the floor, pale and breathless. Timmy knelt next to him and grabbed his wrist, hurriedly feeling for a pulse. "We got him out just in the nick of time," he said, breathing a deep sigh of relief. "He'll be ok."

Riven and Sky picked Helia up and laid him on his bed. Then Sky said, "what do you think happened?"

"I don't know," said Brandon. "I wish we could find out."

"We will find out, as soon as Helia wakes up and tells us," said Jason.

They didn't have to wait long, because a moment later, Helia began to stir. The spell Stella had used to break the spell on the ice coffin had also managed to give him back some of his strength. His breathing quickened, some color returned to his skin and he managed to just barely open his eyes. He could scarcely speak, but he did managed to utter out weakly one question that he absolutely needed to ask, "Flora, where's Flora?"

It was in that moment that everyone realized she wasn't there. They'd been so wrapped up in freeing Helia, they'd completely forgotten about Flora, which is a really bad thing to say about your friends. "That explains all the dark magic around," said Layla. "You guys, the witches got her."

"Oh no!" said the girls. Helia tried to sit up, but Sky pushed him back onto the pillow.

"We have to save her," he said, fighting to get up, but in his condition, Sky was stronger than he was, and he knew it. It was easy for the Prince of Eraklyon to keep a tight hand on his friend's shoulder and make him lie back.

"You're not going anywhere," said Sky. "You're still weak from the ice coffin, you have to rest."

"I can't rest," replied Helia, still struggling. "Not while Flora's in danger."

"You know there's a chance she could have escaped," said Jason. "The witches might have her cornered someplace. Do you remember what happened?"

"The last thing I remember is telling Flora to go get help and then Icy trapped me in that ice coffin," said Helia, finally ceasing his struggling, and lying back on his bed. "Is there anyway we can find out what did happen?"

"There is as a matter of fact," said Tecna. "Helia, can I use your computer?"

"Of course," he said. Tecna walked over to it and sat down. She typed a few things in and then waved her hand over it.

"Look at this," she said, making the monitor larger so they could all see it. They watched an instant replay of what had happened between Flora and the witches. They saw the entire battle between Flora and the witches, though Helia didn't like remembering how the witches had made such quick work of him, how they had trapped Helia in the ice coffin and used him as a bargaining chip to make her come with them and how they tied her up. They also heard all the dialogue, which made Stella very upset when she heard the witches had called her stupid.

Then, they heard the last part, where Icy said, "as soon as we're done with you, you'll be joining him." The boys had scared looks on their faces and the girls were all petrified with fear. Helia had turned pale and was trembling a little.

Finally, Stella managed to stutter out, "did...did they mean what I think they meant?"

"Yeah Stella," said Layla. "As soon as they get her powers, they're going to k…" she couldn't bring herself to say the last word."

Suddenly, they all jumped as Bloom slammed her fist into the desk out of rage. "I can't believe this!" she said. "This is all our fault, we should have kept a closer eye on her! She was counting on us, Ms. Faragonda was counting on us, and we blew it!"

"It isn't your fault," said Helia. "If anyone, it's mine for not protecting her better."

"We can decide who's to blame later," said Sky. "We need to tell Ms. Faragonda what's happened and figure out what our next move is."

Deciding that this was indeed the only option, they got on a ship and flew back to Alfea. They ran to Ms. Faragonda's office and told her what had happened. She frowned when she heard, and there was silence for a few minutes as she thought of what to tell them.

"What do we do now Ms. F?" asked Musa.

"I have a feeling that the witches have taken Flora back to her home realm," said the headmistress. "That's the only place that the gate into Rampara can be broken. I've done a little research. The seal around the gate has already cracked a little bit. That's how that girl, 

Guinevere, got to Alfea. She's obviously a Ramparan princess, but even her powers aren't enough to break the seal completely. She still needs Flora's. But there's more. When Lilia defeated Earshra, she robbed Earshra of her powers to make sure she couldn't do anymore damage."

"Are you saying Flora has Earshra's powers?" asked Bloom.

"No, I'm not," said Ms. Faragonda. "But Lilia was the only person who had as much power as Earshra, so she knew that those powers were too dangerous to be destroyed. And she also knew that she wouldn't be able to handle both Earshra's powers and her own at the same time. So she hid them beneath the palace, where they remained until this day. Guinevere needs Flora to get those powers and then she needs Flora to break the seal around the gate to Rampara. Then nothing will be able to stop her from conquering all the realms."

"Then we need to get to Lynphea and rescue Flora," said Helia standing up. He walked towards the door, but Ms. Faragonda called him back.

"There's one more thing you need to know about Guinevere," she said. "She's redeemable."

Flora slowly regained consciousness, wondering where she was and how long she'd been out. She tried to open her eyes but it felt like there were large chunks of metal on her eyelids, keeping them closed. She then remembered everything that had happened, the witches capturing her and what they had done to Helia. She quickly sat up, realized that she was still tied up and saw that she was in her bedroom at the palace of Lynphea.

"How did I get here?" she asked.

"I asked the witches to bring you here," said Guinevere walking through the door. She was smiling malevolently, knowing it was only a matter of time before she could use Flora's powers to break the gate into Rampara. "And don't bother calling for help, because everyone here in the palace, the guards, your parents, everyone is under a spell so they won't see us or hear us.

"What do you want with me?" asked Flora.

"It's simple," said Guinevere and she explained to Flora the whole story, not knowing that at the same time, Ms. Faragonda was explaining the same thing to the rest of the Winx Club and their boyfriends. By the time she finished, Flora was scared stiff about what she was about to do and what would happen to her when she had done her part.

"Why?" she asked. "How could anyone be so evil, all they want is to rule over everything?"

Guinevere was about to reply when she fell to the ground. Flora at first thought it was a trick, but when it became obvious that the girl was in real pain, she wanted to get up and see what was wrong with her. She would have too, were it not for the fact that she was still tied up. A dark glow formed around Guinevere and then left her body and went floating away. She sat there for a moment breathing deeply and then stood up.

When she saw her face, Flora saw that her eyes had gone back to being deep blue instead of red and her hair was long and wavy, the top part pulled back in a braid, like it was when she had first met the girls. Her black dress had also disappeared and she was yet again wearing the white skirt and green peasant top she had worn at Alfea. She didn't look evil anymore; on the contrary, she looked scared and confused. She walked over to Flora and said, "are you all right?"

"I'm fine, what just happened?" asked Flora.

"It'll take some time to explain," she said. "You see, I wasn't always a witch. I was born a fairy like you, with Winx and everything. I even had the same personality as you, I was as kind to people as could be. My parents hated it. Everyone in the family since my ancestor Earshra had been evil. They said that if I continued the way I was, then I'd take the kingdom back to the days before Earshra came to the throne. It was because of her that darkness took over our realm. Neither of my parents wanted to go back to the old days, they said the times when my people and your people interacted in harmony was a thing of the past and was better left forgotten, never brought back. So they put a spell on me, to make me evil forever."

"I see it worked," said Flora.

"Partly," replied Guinevere. "I'm evil most of the time, like when I attacked you and your friends at the beach yesterday. But there are times when I'm back to my old self, my kind self like right now. This is the real me you're talking to now, the Guinevere that would never hurt anyone or anything. I'm ashamed of my dark side. But unfortunately, the spell has been growing more powerful by the day and my times as my old self are few and far between. It won't be long before the spell takes hold of me all together and I'll be evil forever."

"Isn't there anything we can do to break the spell?" asked Flora.

"I've been trying to break it for years," replied Guinevere, starting to cry. "But there's nothing I can do, it's too powerful. At precisely midnight tonight, with or without Earshra's powers, the spell will become permanent and I'll be evil forever. Nothing you do will be able to change that." She looked at her watch and saw that it was already 8:00. "It's too late. I only have four hours left and I doubt I'll have another time to be my true self before midnight. I'm doomed to be an evil witch for life. I'm sorry about all this Flora, I'm so, so sorry." At this, she fell to her knees and started sobbing, her hands covering her face.

"There has to be something I can do," said Flora. "If I can get back to Alfea, I'll talk to Ms. Faragonda and see if she knows a spell that will counteract this one. I know we can figure something out."

"Would you really do that for me?" asked Guinevere.

"Of course," said Flora.

Guinevere thought for a moment and said, "all right." She raised her hand and the ropes around Flora's hands and feet disappeared. Flora rubbed her wrists where the ropes had cut into them. Guinevere started talking rapidly. "Listen to me. Transform and get back to Alfea as quickly as you can. This good side of me will only last for a few more minutes. You have to get out of here before Icy, Darcy and Stormy find out I released you and before my evil side comes back. No matter what happens Flora, I am glad to have met you. You've made me feel better than I've ever had my entire life. I wish we could be friends, but we can't be with this awful curse."

"We can be friends, as soon as we break the curse," said Flora. "I'll be back with help I promise."

She hugged Guinevere, then suddenly, the girl started breathing hard. Her evil self was starting to take over her mind again. "Go! I'll resist it long enough to give you a decent head start. Now go! Go!" she yelled. Flora transformed and flew out the window, and tried to cast a spell to get back to Alfea, but she was too weak from the fighting earlier. She just flew as fast as she could towards an inter-realm transportation station a few miles away from the palace. Guinevere was only able to resist her evil side a few minutes after Flora left. She changed back into her evil form, complete with black clothes and red eyes and said, "that's better. I can't believe I let that fairy get away. When I get her back, she's going to wish she'd never been born!"

So, the truth comes out, Guinevere is really a fairy, but she's doomed to spend the rest of her life a witch. But will Flora find a way to break the curse, or will Evil Guinevere use her powers to get the Power of Rampara that Earshra used so long ago, and to break the seal into Rampara. The answers and more, coming soon!


	7. Chapter 6: Rescued and Recaptured

All right, Flora managed to escape for a few minutes, and we know that Guinevere is a true fairy at heart, not an evil witch. Tell me, what do you think of her, now that you know the truth about her? She doesn't seem so bad does she? Well, she's going to seem really bad again after this next chapter. Just read and enjoy!

**Chapter 6: Rescued and Re-captured**

Meanwhile, back at Alfea, Ms. Faragonda had just finished explaining the same story about Guinevere to the rest of the Winx Club and their boyfriends. They were all stunned to hear that at heart, Guinevere really was a fairy. They never would have expected it from someone who was as intent to do so much evil as she was.

"Isn't there something we can do to help her?" asked Bloom.

"Flora's also the only one who can break the curse around Guinevere," said Ms. Faragonda. "But the problem is Flora doesn't know that. So, what you need to do is find Flora, and somehow figure out how to cast the counter curse. And it's only a matter of hours before the spell takes over Guinevere forever. It's already after eight o'clock, so she only has four hours left. And I have a feeling that the witches will take her powers so they can have control of both realms."

"Then let's get to Lynphea, rescue Flora and Guinevere, and stop the witches from getting control of both their powers," said Helia."

"Be careful, all of you!" said Ms. Faragonda as the girls transformed. They ran back to the ship waiting outside Alfea's gates. Timmy hurriedly set the controls and started the ship, gaining speed every minute. But because of Helia hanging over his shoulder, pressuring him to go faster, he pressed a few buttons and thanks to some new software he'd installed on the ship's computers, it accelerated and went into an inter-realm travel mode. It went so fast that the girls all had to grab on to things just to keep standing. But it didn't really help and a couple of them were thrown to the floor.

"Are you girls all right?" asked Sky, helping Bloom up.

"Yeah," she answered vaguely, and he could tell she was worried about Flora.

She wasn't the only one. All the girls were nervous and anxious, and poor Helia was having absolutely worry fits. He kept pacing back and forth across the ship, and only after Riven threatened to punch his lights out did he sit down. He just gazed out the window and watched as the realm of Lynphea began to appear in front of him. Within a few minutes, they landed outside the palace of Lynphea. It was a relatively small palace, only two floors, but as Lynphea was ruled more by the Sage, and less by the King and Queen. It may be small, but it was grand nonetheless.

The realm itself was a paragon of beauty, with flowers in full bloom, trees that towered to the sky, and mountains looming up in the distance. They could hear a waterfall somewhere in the distance, and the sound of water come crashing down to the rocks was actually very soothing under the circumstances. It was very peaceful, but that just reminded them of their mission, considering that if they failed, all that beauty and tranquility would be destroyed forever.

"This realm is huge, where do we start looking?" asked Layla.

"We'll think of something," said Jason, putting his arm around her. This made her a little nervous, she still wasn't used to the idea of a boyfriend. He felt her tense up a little bit, and it felt like a prong shooting straight through his heart. He knew he was falling in love with her, but he wasn't sure if he should continue with a girl who felt she didn't need a boyfriend.

Tecna was meanwhile typing into her computer, with Timmy looking over her shoulder. "Got it!" she said. "It looks like Guinevere's good side took over for a little while and she let Flora go. Flora's flying west, trying to get to any means of transportation back to Alfea. She has barely any energy left, that's why she didn't cast a spell to get back. But the witches are following her and Guinevere's evil side took back control of her mind."

"Where is she now?" asked Musa.

"She's only a few minutes in that direction," said Tecna, pointing over her shoulder. One second later, they heard the unmistakable sound of a battle, energy blasts being fired, and the sound of a girl screaming.

"Oh no Flora," said Helia, going even paler than he already was, if that was possible. The girls flew in the direction Tecna pointed out and the boys followed closely in the ship. Within minutes, they spotted Flora flying as fast as her wings would carry her, but even from where they were, they could see that it wasn't fast enough. Icy, Darcy, Stormy and Evil Guinevere were behind her, absolutely gaining on her, and she didn't have enough power to make herself faster. She barely had enough strength to hold herself up, let alone maintain her Winx form.

"They're still so far away, how are we going to get to her?" asked Stella.

"Guys, each of you create a couple power beams, one in each hand," yelled Musa. The girls did as she said, a couple wondering what good that was going to do, but that was made clear about a second later, as she then she yelled, "now fire them behind us. It'll give us an extra speed boost!"

"Good thinking Musa!" yelled all the girls together as they picked up speed. This extra boost was just the break they needed, making them go faster than they had been. They called out to Flora, trying hard to get her attention, but they could tell she couldn't hear them.

Flora didn't even yet know that her friends were behind her. She was still trying to get away from the witches, but was getting tired. She knew she couldn't keep going like this for much longer, she was having to struggle to so much as keep her eyes open. She tried to go faster, but her Winx was almost completely drained. Icy raced ahead and was soon in front of her. Flora stopped short, realizing that she was trapped.

"Now we've got you pixie!" yelled Icy, ready to knock Flora out and tie her up again.

"Get away from her Icy!" yelled Bloom. "Dragon Blast!" The burst of fire took the witch completely by surprise, forcing her to back away from Flora. The princess of nature turned around and a wide grin broke out on her face as she saw her friends there, ready to help her.

"I was beginning to give up hope you guys would find me," she said, flying back around to them.

"Don't worry, we've got your back Flo," said Musa, giving her a smile and a wink.

"The last thing you have a chance of doing is saving her skin, believe me," said Guinevere, drifting forward, her hair flying wildly behind her, the feature that made her truly look evil and dangerous, along with her gleaming, red eyes.

"How about picking on someone your own size Guinevere," said Layla. "Aquarius Current! Ocean Blast!" This combo attack was one that had worked for a few times in the past, and though it did manage to keep Guinevere from attacking them for a few minutes, she didn't even dent her enemy.

"Layla, you and the others take out the witches," said Bloom. "I'll fight Guinevere."

"Got it," said Layla. She flew down to where the others were fighting the witches, and said, "okay Musa, you and I are going to fight Darcy. Stella and Tecna, can you take care of Stormy?"

"No problem," said Stella, more than ready to take out the witch she thought had the worst fashion sense. "But then," she thought to herself. "They all have a pretty bad fashion sense. Guinevere's is nothing to scream about either."

"Come on Stella," said Tecna, snapping out of her moment of contemplating fashion. "Digital Web!"

"Sun Burst!"

Surprisingly enough, they managed to take out Stormy fairly quickly, which made them both suspicious. What made them even more suspicious was that a moment later, she disappeared, and didn't reappear very quickly.

"Something's wrong here," said Stella. "Where did she go?"

"I don't know," said Tecna. "I can't see her anywhere."

Musa and Layla were holding their own against Darcy. "Sonic Blast!" yelled Musa. She knocked Darcy out of the air a few feet. "That's for kidnapping Flora," she yelled. She then sent another sonic blast at Darcy, which knocked her to the ground. "And that's for spelling Riven in freshmen year," she yelled.

"Come on, don't you think that hero wannabe is just a little too grumpy for his and everyone else's own good?" asked Darcy. Musa knew she was just taunting her, and it was working.

"Don't even think about trying to get Riven back!" she yelled, flying forward to attack again, but Darcy did the same as Stormy, and disappeared.

"Where did she go?" asked Layla, looking all over the place for the witch.

"Why do I get the feeling we've been set up?" asked Musa.

"That you have," said Darcy. She and Stormy suddenly appeared above the four fairies, and with one combined attack sent all of them crashing to the ground. The boys landed the ship and rushed out to help the girls, all except for Sky and Helia, who stayed in the entrance to the ship to watch Bloom and Flora.

Having the Dragonfire behind her gave Bloom an advantage in the fight against Guinevere, but not enough of one. Meanwhile Flora was trying to fight Icy. But Icy wasn't having much fun as she normally did fighting the girls, and this was because she knew how little power Flora had.

Guinevere nodded at Icy, giving her the signal to take Bloom out, so she could have a clear shot at Flora. Icy flew forward, and sent a round of piercing icicles directly at Bloom, also giving her a snide comment, "you know Bloom, it's hard to believe a lowlife pixie like you has a power like the Dragonfire. It's obvious you don't deserve it. Why don't you just hand it over to me right now, and perhaps, I'll think about sparing your miserable life."

Bloom, hating it when Icy made comments like that, flew towards her, completely forgetting about Guinevere. "You're going to pay for that Icy! Dragon Blast!"

But this was exactly what Icy wanted. She quickly disappeared, before the attack got anywhere near her. Then while Bloom's attention was fixed on looking for her, she snuck up behind the fairy, and hit her square in the back with another round of icicles. She fell down to the ground, landing directly in Sky's arms.

With all the rest of the girls now on the ground below, Flora was now completely unguarded. In the few minutes she'd had to rest, she hadn't been able to gain much of her power back. Guinevere now floated forward, ready to re-capture her and take her back to the palace.

"Guinevere, don't do this," said Flora, as Guinevere came ever closer. "There's still a part of you that's good. Please listen to that side of you, fight the curse and don't do something you'll regret."

"I'm sorry Flora, but that's not happening," said Guinevere. "Dark Shadow!" She fired a dark ball of light at Flora. She tried to shield it and did for a few seconds, but her Winx had completely left her. She transformed back into her normal self, passed out and fell. Bloom tried to fly over and get her, but she was too far away, and the wind was against her too. She knew she'd never be able to get to Flora in time.

Suddenly, a levabike came speeding out of the Red Fountain ship, flying directly at Flora. It was Helia. He reached Flora just a few seconds before she hit the ground. Keeping one arm on the controls of the bike, he reached out with his free arm and caught her around the waist, holding her protectively against his chest.

"Way to go Helia!" yelled Musa.

But his victory was short lived. He was about to drive the bike back into the ship but Guinevere fired at him from behind, and he crashed on the ground below. Helia kept his arm around Flora, trying to make sure he landed on the ground first, in order to keep her from getting hurt. He fell off the bike, throwing out his left arm to break his fall. A searing hot pain shot through it as he felt it crack, and he had to choke back a cry of pain; he wasn't going to give Guinevere the satisfaction of knowing he was hurt. He hit the ground hard, and Flora rolled out of his other arm. He slowly got up, trying to ignore the pain in his arm as he walked over to his girlfriend to make sure she was all right. The other girls and the boys ran over to him and Flora.

"Are you ok Helia?" asked Sky.

"Except for my arm yes," he said. "I think it's broken." Brandon tore a piece of his cape off and very quickly wrapped Helia's arm in a sling. "We'll take care of your arm later. Right now, we have to get out of here!"

"You're not going anywhere," said Icy. She and the rest of the witches appeared on all sides, surrounding the group, so none of them could escape. "Say goodbye to your friend. She's coming with us."

"No she's not!" yelled Stella. "Sun Blast!" But Icy deflected her attack and said, "nice try pixie."

"I hope you've enjoyed your last moments with her," said Guinevere, smiling cruelly. She fired an attack at the group which propelled them back into a cave behind them, leaving Flora lying on the ground. Guinevere then conjured magical bars out of thin air and put them at the entrance to the cave. They all watched as she picked up a rock and threw it at one of the bars. It disappeared before their eyes and they soon realized that it had turned it to powder. "The same thing will happen to you if you try to escape," she said. She turned around, hearing a groan behind her. Flora had regained consciousness.

"Flora!" yelled Helia. It took a moment for Flora to fully wake up, and by the time she did, it was too late. The four witches had surrounded her on all sides, and there was nowhere for her to run.

"Oh no," she yelled when she saw them.

"Flora, get out of here, run and get help!" yelled Bloom, but she knew she couldn't. Flora tried to duck under the witches, all floating in midair, and started running as fast as she could, but Guinevere wasn't going to let her go that easily. She fired a few attacks at Flora and the poor girl tried to transform but was still out of Winx. All she could do was run.

"Not so fast pixie!" yelled Darcy. She raised her hand and within a second, rope was tightly binding Flora's wrists and ankles again. She overbalanced and fell to the ground, struggling to free herself, but the ropes were too strong. She could only struggle helplessly as Icy picked her up, and started to carry her back to the castle.

"Flora, no!" yelled Stella.

"I can't believe it," said Helia, falling to his knees, realizing he could do nothing to help her. He just sat there, in a daze.

Flora was struggling to get out of Icy's grip, but the witch didn't let go of her captive. "Help me!" she yelled to her friends as they disappeared from sight. They rounded the corner and went back inside the palace.

Not good, really not good. The witches have Flora, the others are trapped, and midnight is approaching fast. What's going to happen to Guinevere once midnight strikes? Will the Power of Rampara be hers, and will the gate to Rampara open? You know it will, it won't be much of a story if it doesn't, but what happens when it does happen? Stay tuned!


	8. Chapter 7: Power Absorbed, Broken Seal

All right everyone, sorry it's taken me so long to post back. I've been busy getting ready to go to college. Okay, so we have Flora captured by the witches and about to be used to steal the power Guinevere needs to rule all the realms. Happy reading!

**Chapter 7: Power Absorbed, Broken Seal**

The Winx girls and the heroes could only watch as they saw Flora being spirited away by the witches. It took several minutes for it to sink in. Their best friend was in danger, counting on them to rescue her, and they had no way of getting to her. She was depending on them, as was Ms. Faragonda, and they had let them down. They all sat down on the cave floor, hardly daring to believe it. She was gone.

"That's it then," said Tecna. "We've failed. There's nothing we can do to stop Guinevere now."

"Don't say that," said Bloom. "There's a way, there's always a way."

"You have to admit she's right Bloom," said Musa. "What else can we do?"

"Listen Musa, I don't want to hear that from you," said Riven, grabbing her shoulders and shaking her hard, which took her by surprise. "You're always the confidence of the team. The phrase 'give up' isn't even in your vocab. I'm not going to let you change those principles now." Musa just nodded, trying to believe what he was saying, but it was hard when all hope seemed gone.

"And that goes for you too Tecna," said Timmy. "You're usually so calm and logical. I've never known you to give up. Now why don't you come up with one of those famous plans of yours and figure out how to get us out of here?"

"All right, thank you Timmy," she said.

"Do you think there's another way out?" asked Sky.

"Maybe, there's a tunnel branching off this cave," said Brandon. "There's nothing in the back of the cave, but maybe there's a secret way out or something." The others all looked at him like he was nuts, but he just shrugged and said, "believe what you want, but you've got to admit, it's our best option." Knowing he was right, the boys all tapped on the walls, searching for hollow spots, but couldn't find any. While they did that, the girls tried to think of a way to get past the bars at the cave entrance, but none knew any spells that would do the trick.

"What do we do now?" asked Helia, his eyes to the ground and all his thoughts centered around what might be happening to Flora.

"We'll think of something bro," said Brandon. "And while we do, why don't you let me take a look at your arm?" He gestured to Helia's left arm, still wrapped up in a sling. Helia nodded and Brandon ran his fingers up and down his arm. He could feel his friend wince every so often. "It's broken all right," he said, and Helia gave a frustrated and defeated sigh. How was he supposed to save his girlfriend when he couldn't use one of his arms.

"I can fix that," said Layla, walking over. She waved her hand over Helia's arm and said, "brazus amendus." Helia felt a soothing energy flow into his arm, making the pain stop. Knowing it now fully healed, he took it out of the sling and stretched a little bit.

"Thanks," he said. Layla just nodded.

"Now, we're just back to the question of how to get out," said Stella.

"Tecna, can you do a scan of those bars?" asked Bloom. "There has to be a weakness or something."

"Just a minute," said Tecna. She did a quick scan and read what was on her computer screen. "If there's a weakness, Guinevere's done a good job of concealing it. I can't find one anywhere."

"Hey, do you guys remember that vidrius spell we learned in Palladium's class last year?" asked Layla. "It's supposed to be able to turn anything into solid glass."

"Yeah, but the few times we tried it were on solid objects," said Musa. "This stuff is just dark energy."

"But Palladium did say _anything_," said Stella. "We've got to at least try it."

"All right, this is going to take all our Charmix power," said Bloom. The girls all nodded and with a moment of concentration, their Charmix appeared on their outfits. They fired a strong, five person combination attack at the bars, and after a few moments, they could all tell the bars were starting to get clearer and more reflective. Another few power blasts and they had turned to solid, crystal glass.

"I knew it'd work," said Layla. With renewed confidence, she flew towards the crystal sculptures ahead of her and kicked at the bars. The glass broke easily and they all dashed out of the cave. They hadn't realized quite how long they'd been in there. Night had fallen and the sky was a pitch black color.

"It's already after eleven," said Riven, checking his watch. "We have to hurry if we want to break that curse around Guinevere."

"And we have to find Flora," said Helia. "Before it's too late for both of them."

--

While the others had been breaking out of their prison, the witches had taken Flora through a series of tunnels under the palace, tunnels she never knew had existed. She looked at her surroundings and wondered if they had been built at the same time as the palace, if they had served some purpose other than to conceal the evil of another realm. Finally, they came to the end of the tunnels, to the doorway of a secret room. She knew immediately what was behind it: the supreme power of Rampara.

The door had been locked for a thousand years, ever since Lilia had taken the power from Earshra. But both Flora and Guinevere could feel the energy flowing through the door out towards them. Smiling evilly, the Princess of Rampara just waved her hand, and the door flew open. Years of time had weakened Lilia's spells, and aided by the desire to get her true power, the witch was stronger than Flora had ever seen her.

Flora just had time to register that she was in a small circular room, made entirely of stone, when the witches forced her inside and shoved her into the middle of the room. Then they shut and locked the door, so that no one could get to them until after the spell had been performed. They stood back as Guinevere cast a spell to make Flora transform again. The poor fairy sat on the ground, and looked up at her captor, fear written all over her face.

"Please don't do this," she begged.

"Sorry pixie, but you're the only one who can do this little job," said Icy.

"Are you ready Flora?" asked Guinevere.

"Guinevere please," said Flora. "It's me. I'm your friend; we can still be friends if you'll just let me help you."

"I'm sorry Flora," said Guinevere. "But Good Guinevere is about to be gone forever. In just a few minutes, the spell will become permanent and there's nothing you can do about it."

"But Guinevere," said Flora. But she didn't have the chance to finish. Guinevere fired a dark shadow attack at her and Flora fell back to the ground.

"I've had enough of your babbling," said Guinevere. "Let's just get my ancestor's powers, so I can lead the forces of Rampara through all the realms, conquering them all one by one."

"And with us at your side, no one will stand in our way," said Icy laughing.

Flora knew she was running out of time, so she said silently, "please my friends. Please help me. If this spell I'm sending you works correctly, you'll know how to find me. Hurry please." She hurriedly sent a telepathic message to the girls and to Helia, which would allow them to find the tunnels and eventually the room she was being held in. But before she could even begin to hope that they got the message and would get there in time, she heard the sound of a church bell in the distance, sounding the hour. It was midnight on the dot.

"Oh no!" yelled Flora. She watched horrified as a dark light began to glow around Guinevere and she rose a few feet in the air. Her hair fanned out behind her, as though an invisible wind was blowing around her, extinguishing what was left of the good spirit that she had shown Flora just a few hours before. Flora half expected to see a stream of energy flow out of Guinevere's body, meaning that her good side had been destroyed forever, but it didn't. This gave Flora the idea that her good self was just imprisoned deep down and an exceptionally powerful spell would be able to release it again. But this thought vanished when the witch started laughing evilly. It was a loud, ruthless laugh that filled the whole room. The spell was officially permanent.

"All right Flora, ready to fulfill your destiny?" asked Guinevere.

"Guinevere, I beg you, don't do this," said Flora.

"It's too late for begging Flora," said Guinevere. "It's after midnight and the spell is irreversible, so there's nothing you can do to stop me. There's nothing anyone can do to stop me now. I know it's a little hard to believe, but you'll get used to the thought. Now hold still. It'll all be over in a minute."

She closed her eyes and stayed silent for several minutes concentrating, letting the dark energies flow through her. She could feel the power of Rampara hidden just below the floor, and she knew it was as eager as she was to be reunited. Flora had to work hard not to scream as a dark glow started to form around the two girls. The two of them rose a few feet in the air, Flora looking nervously at the ground. She struggled, trying desperately to free herself from the ropes around her hands and feet so she could fight back, but they were too tight. Guinevere then started chanting and beams of light started pouring out of both her and Flora's hearts and flowing into the floor in the center of the room. Flora could see at once that it was a retrieval spell, and she also knew at once that it wouldn't take them long to get what they were after. She screamed, hoping her friends would get to her before Guinevere took control of the power of Rampara.

--

By this time, the rest of the group had reached the tunnels that the witches had taken Flora through. The place was an absolute maze, created by Lilia so that intruders wouldn't be able to find the power of Rampara. But with Tecna's computer, and the telepathic spell Flora sent them, they were able to make their way through the corridors. All the girls nearly jumped out of their skin when they heard Flora screaming.

"Oh no, they've already started!" said Bloom.

"We have to hurry, there's no telling how long it'll take them to finish retrieving Earshra's powers," said Tecna.

The girls and the guys all ran down the tunnel, Bloom and Helia in the lead. But they reached a dead end in the tunnel. It was the door behind which Guinevere and Flora were trying to get Earshra's powers.

"It's locked!" said Musa.

"Then get out of my way," said Helia. He started doing everything he could to break the door down but it wouldn't budge. The girls tried all sorts of spells, but they couldn't get the door open.

"What are we going to do now?" asked Stella.

"We'll think of something," said Brandon, putting his arm around her.

"Flora, please hold on," said Bloom, pounding her fist against the door.

--

Flora screamed even more as her Winx drained out of her into the bottom of the room and in another minute, a large ball of light appeared in the middle of the room. There was no doubt what it was: the power of Rampara. It moved towards Guinevere and when it got close enough, she absorbed it. Guinevere laughed, a loud, malicious laugh as she realized that she had gained more power than she ever had before. She broke the connection between her and Flora and the flower fairy fell to the ground, taking deep breaths, trying to recover some of her strength. She looked up horrified at Guinevere, basking in her new found power.

"What's the matter Flora?" she asked. "Don't you like the new and improved Guinevere?"

"No, frankly I don't," replied Flora.

"Well, get used to it," said Guinevere. "This is how I'm going to be for the rest of my life. You're never going to be able to stop me."

"Nice job," said Icy. "You've got the power of Rampara and now you're an all powerful witch. I love it when the bad guys win."

"Speaking of Rampara, I think it's time we broke the seal and reopened the gate."

"But the gate is on the other side of the realm," said Stormy.

"No matter, we can break it from here," said Guinevere. She started chanting again and the connection between her and Flora formed again. Beams of light poured out of both the girls' hearts and headed for the door. Flora tried to break the connection, but she was too weak and with her hands and feet still tied, she could barely move, let alone fight Guinevere.

--

"Everyone get out of the way!" yelled Bloom. They did as she said, just as the beam of energy went soaring past them.

"What was that?" asked Sky.

"That was the power that'll reopen the gate into Rampara," said Tecna. "And if my calculations are correct, they've already retrieved power they need."

"Luckily, that beam smashed the door open for us," said Stella.

They all dashed in and hid behind some large rocks. They saw Flora and Guinevere's powers being combined to open the gate. Helia tried to run out to grab Flora, but Sky pushed him back.

"It might hurt her even more if we get her down before that connection's broken," said Sky. "And the witches won't let you even get close to her. Just wait a minute." But Helia didn't want to, he wanted to get up there and help Flora, but he did what Sky told him to. He knew trying to get her down might result in more injury for her and that was the last thing he wanted.

After a few minutes, they heard a large rumbling sound and they knew that the gate had been opened. A minute after that, the connection between Guinevere and Flora was broken. Flora fell to the ground, back to her regular form and unconscious; they had used up so much of her power that she had barely any Winx left and all her strength was gone.

Guinevere laughed malevolently and said, "now it's time to gather my army in Rampara and conquer all the realms."

"What'll we do with her?" asked Darcy, gesturing at Flora, lying still and pale on the ground.

"She's played her part," said Guinevere. "And we certainly can't keep her around, if she has the potential to put an end to all this. There's only one thing we can do. Dark Shadow!"

"No!" yelled Helia. He jumped out, scooped Flora up in his arms and jumped out of the way of the attack. He backed away from the witches, holding Flora tightly and protectively in his arms. The rest of the heroes and the Winx girls came out of their hiding places.

"How did they get here?" asked Darcy.

"Who cares, let's just kick their butts," said Stormy. "Psycho Cyclone!"

"Dragon Blast!" yelled Bloom.

"Digital Web!" yelled Tecna.

The girls were so angry at the witches for hurting their friend, that they put all their strength into their attacks, not focusing on anything else. They were so busy fighting that they didn't notice large cracks beginning to form in the walls and ceiling. All these attacks were beginning to become too much for that cave. Rocks began to fall from the ceiling as the room started to cave in.

"Let's get out of here!" yelled Musa. The four witches disappeared in a puff of smoke, mumbling about how they were going to destroy the girls soon. The Winx girls and the heroes ran back into the tunnels, dashing through them as fast as they could until they reached the entrance hall again. By the time they got back to the entrance hall, they were all out of breath and panting, yet relieved that they'd managed to keep Guinevere from destroying Flora.

"Where do we go from here?" asked Stella.

"Flora's room, that's the only place I can think of," said Bloom.

"Come on, it's this way," said Helia, starting to lead them through the hallways. The rest looked at him as if they were asking how he knew where her room was. He sighed and said, "I came to visit over the summer, I know the basic layout of this place." They walked through the halls and up the stairs until they came to her room. Helia laid her on her bed and quickly untied her hands while Bloom untied her feet. Helia gently rubbed Flora's wrists where the ropes had cut into them. "Will she be all right?" he asked.

"I think so," said Tecna. "This whole thing took a lot out of her. She just needs to rest." The girls powered down their Winx, all of them realizing they were tired. All the girls and the boys fell asleep pretty quickly, except for Helia. He was determined to stay awake until Flora woke up. He caressed her hand gently, wondering if she really was all right. He soon fell asleep though too.

When they all woke up, they couldn't believe it was morning. The sky was pitch black and there were dark clouds all over the sky. They saw the gate into Rampara from a distance and people from that evil realm were pouring into Lynphea. The scene from a thousand years ago was playing all over again, the evil and the darkness spewing out everywhere. Helia had to look away in agony as he realized how much Flora's heart would break when she saw this.

"Now what do we do?" asked Musa.

"I don't know Musa," said Layla. "I just don't know."

Is this bad or what? Evil is pouring into Flora's realm, thanks to Guinevere's evil plan. How's Flora going to take this when she wakes up? What are they going to do to stop Guinevere? Can she be saved? Stay tuned!


	9. Chapter 8: Restoring Faith

Here's the next chapter, and it's got a really cute scene between Flora and Helia, and it's got a part with Flora's parents in which they tell her how she can break the curse. Enjoy!

**Chapter 8: Restoring Faith**

The girls and guys spent several minutes looking at the scene in front of them, trying to figure out the best way to stop the spread of evil pouring through the gate to Rampara. More than that, they had to figure out what they were going to say to Flora when she woke up and saw this. She'd be devastated and even though none wanted to be the bearer of bad news, and none wanted to cause Flora more pain, they knew her seeing this would be inevitable and they'd have to tell her something that would restore her confidence in herself.

"My poor Flora," Helia thought to himself. "When she sees this, she'll have an awful broken heart. Why didn't I protect her better? I could have prevented this from happening, if I'd just not let the witches sneak up on us. But what's done is done, and she and I will have to fix this somehow. I just hope she'll believe she can do it." He thought back to when she was trying to save the Flower of Life at Pixie Village, and how he'd had to convince her that her heart had a lot of power in it. "She needs to start using that power a little more often," he thought.

"Is there any way we can stem the spread of darkness all over the place?" asked Layla.

"I doubt it," said Tecna. "The number of people coming through that gate is enormous. Hundreds are pouring in every hour. If we want to stop this, we're going to have to go straight to the source, and that's Guinevere herself."

"She can make her armies retreat, but to do that we're going to have to break that curse," said Bloom. "And it's already become permanent."

They were about to start contemplating ways to break an unbreakable curse, but then they heard someone groaning behind them. Flora was finally awake. Helia was by her side in an instant, holding her hand and sitting by her bed. The rest of the girls crowded around her bed as well, all gazing down at her worriedly.

"Guys," said Flora, taking her other hand and rubbing her forehead.

The girls all gave noises in delight as they realized she was awake, then jumped on top of her and gave her a large group hug, which forced Helia to let go of her hand and back off a little bit. She gave a small smile and said, "don't worry you guys, I'm all right. But how did you get out of that cave? I thought you wouldn't be able to get out unless Guinevere removed those bars."

"Layla managed to turn the bars into glass and got us out," said Musa.

"Though I wish I'd thought of it sooner," said Layla. "By the time I got us out, it was too late to keep Guinevere from manipulating your powers. It was almost too late to save you altogether."

"What's been happening?" she asked. "The last thing I remember is screaming at the top of my lungs as my powers were used to fuel Guinevere's evil plans. I don't remember when exactly I passed out, all I remember is feeling remorse at how I couldn't protect myself and save my realm. I hoped you guys would be able to get to me in time, but I didn't know if you would or could."

"We tried, but we didn't," said Helia, moving back to the side of the bed. "Guinevere got the power she wanted and the gate to Rampara was opened, but we managed to save you."

Flora had been speaking mostly to her friends, so she hadn't seen that the boys were there as well, meaning that her love was there too. When she saw him, she gasped in amazement, then breathed a deep sigh of relief. "Helia, you're all right," she said. "I thought for sure when Icy trapped you in that ice coffin…"

"Relax," said Helia, holding up a hand to quiet her, trying to calm her down. "I'm fine. The others found me just in time, then we came straight here. But how are you? That's more important."

"I'm okay, considering I've just helped the princess of darkness unleash her evil all over my realm," said Flora, rolling over on her bed, burying her face in her pillow.

"It's all right Flora," said Bloom, putting a hand on her friends shoulder. "We'll find a way to clean up this mess. You just need to have faith."

"Easy for you to say Bloom," said Flora, her voice muffled because of the pillow. "This isn't Earth or Sparx, it's not your realm in danger, and you're not the one who caused it all to happen."

"Guinevere caused it all to happen, not you," said Musa. "It was her plan, all her doing. Don't blame yourself for something that she's been planning to do for years probably."

"And it wasn't even her fault, she's under a curse," said Tecna. "We still have to break it."

"There's no way to break it now, it's permanent," said Flora, still not looking at them.

"Guys, can I talk to Flora alone please?" asked Helia. The rest of the gang all went outside, each one knowing that Helia would be able to talk some sense into Flora. He put his hand on her shoulder and tried to turn her back to face him, but she wouldn't do it. He said, "Flora listen to me."

"No Helia, I don't want to talk about it," said Flora sitting up with her back to him.

He walked around so that he was on the same edge of the bed that she was and sat down next to her, but she turned her head so she wouldn't have to face him. He sighed in exasperation as he realized the last thing she was going to do was look at him. It would just remind her of how he had been almost killed in that ice coffin, and it was her fault that she hadn't been able to fight harder. But that didn't stop him from trying. "Flora, listen to me and look at me please. Bloom was right about having faith, you can't just give up."

"Please just go away," said Flora. "This is all my fault. I let my realm be conquered by an evil princess, I've failed my people, and I've failed you."

"Stop," said Helia. He put a finger under her chin and turned her head so he was looking directly into her eyes. She tried to turn her head away, but he cupped her face in his hands, so she couldn't look anywhere but right at him. "This isn't your fault, it's mine. I've failed as a hero for not helping you. If I had done a better job of protecting you, I wouldn't have gotten trapped in that ice coffin and you wouldn't have gone with Icy, Darcy and Stormy. That was a bad choice by the way."

"What was I supposed to do? I was afraid I'd lost you." She tried to turn her head again, but he held it up, making her keep looking at him.

"And these last few hours, I've been afraid that I'd lost you. The witches captured you twice and they used your powers to fulfill their evil schemes. By the time we made it into that underground room, the gate into Rampara was already broken, and you were unconscious. Then Guinevere tried to finish you off once and for all, and I just managed to get you out of the way in time. I was so scared, I saw all my memories of you flash before my eyes, as though it was the last time I'd ever think of you again. Then as I waited for you to wake up, I just kept thinking that I wasn't going to let Guinevere or the witches anywhere near you again. All I want is to keep you safe."

"You knew you couldn't keep me safe forever," said Flora. "This was my destiny and now there's nothing I can do." She pulled away from him, walked out on the balcony and looked over her realm, only thinking that it all was her fault. When she saw what had been done to her beautiful kingdom, her heart began to break all over again. What had once been such a lush, well trimmed, garden-like realm, had now become a dark, dank wasteland.

Helia, knowing the last thing she needed was to see her realm like that, followed her onto the balcony, grabbed her shoulders, and turned her around to face him. "This may have been your destiny, but there _is_ something you can do. You can put an end to all this. You can defeat Icy, Darcy and Stormy, you can release Rampara from this evil, you can still save Guinevere. You can do anything if you just put your mind to it." Every time he said the word, "you," he gave her a small gentle shake to try and knock some sense into her. He didn't dare shake her too hard; she would lose faith in him as well.

"Do you really think I can still save Guinevere?" asked Flora, remembering the dreaded feeling she had as she heard the church bell sound off the hour the previous night. "At midnight last night, the curse became permanent. She'll never be good again."

"With enough power, you can still break that curse," said Helia. "You can do anything Flora, anything." He leaned in and kissed her softly. When they broke apart, he said, "all you have to do is trust yourself."

Flora felt like she was going to start crying, only now, it was tears of happiness that the love of her life was holding her in his arms and comforting her. She threw her arms around him, and buried her face in his shoulder, just glad to be standing so close to him. They looked into each other eyes for a moment and Flora knew that he was right and both knew they were very lucky to have each other. Suddenly, Flora had kind of a flash vision of them together in the near future. They were in her palace, with crowns on top of their heads. But she shook her head, thinking she had just imagined it all.

"Thank you Helia," she finally said, kissing him again. "I'd be lost without you."

"And I can't imagine my life without you," he said. "Now what do you say, we find out the best way to stop this evil once and for all?"

"Okay," she said. They walked back into her room and out into the hall where the rest of the group were waiting for them.

"What's our next move?" asked Bloom, once Flora and Helia had joined the rest of them.

"Well, I'm hoping that the spell Guinevere put on my parents has worn off and we can ask them if they know anyway to destroy this evil," said Flora.

"Where can we find your parents?" asked Sky.

"At this of day, they're usually returning from their morning walk in the garden," replied Flora. "They should be in the throne room in a few minutes." She led the way there and when they got there, they found the king and queen of Lynphea talking about what was happening to their realm. Neither of them looked surprised, as though they knew something like this was going to happen sooner or later. But all the same, when they saw Flora come in, they tried to put on hopeful expressions for her.

"Flora, my dear girl," said the king. "What are you doing here?"

"I think you know why she's here Charles," said Queen Tula. "We both do."

"Wait, wait, you both knew I was going to help Guinevere take over our realm one day?" asked Flora.

"Yes," they said together, knowing that it was better to not conceal the truth from her any longer.

"Why didn't you ever tell me?" asked Flora.

"Because we thought we could protect you," said her mom. Flora gave an exasperated sigh and moved towards the window. "Flora, we thought that girl wouldn't be able to penetrate the castle's forces and you'd be even safer at Alfea. We thought it'd be harder for her to find you in Magix."

"Well obviously you're wrong, considering she kidnapped me in Magix," said Flora. "Were you ever going to tell me the truth?"

"Eventually yes," said her mom. "We were going to tell you in a few months when you turned 17. We could sense the gate was cracking and that their princess, Guinevere was gaining strength but we didn't think…" her voice trailed off.

"Is Rose all right?" asked Flora.

"Rose?" asked Bloom.

"My sister," replied Flora. "Is she all right?"

"She's fine," said Queen Tula. "She doesn't know any of this happening. We sent her to stay with some friends for a few days."

"Thank goodness," whispered Flora. "Well now that we're here, what can we do to stop all this? Ms. Faragonda said I'm the only one who has the power to do it."

"That's what she thinks," said Queen Tula. "It's actually going to take both you and Guinevere to defeat this evil."

"Both of us?" asked Flora, turning to look at her parents.

"Both of them?" asked all the rest of them.

"Yes, Guinevere's troops are pouring into our realm, she's the only one who can send them back into Rampara," said the king

"I really wish you had told me that before midnight last night," said Flora. "A curse was put on her when she was a baby to make her evil forever. It became permanent last night."

"Do you know why it was last night?" asked Queen Tula. Flora shook her head. "Because today is her 17th birthday, when her power is at its peak. But today is also the best time for you to break the curse Flora, while she's still trying to get the hang of her new powers. You have to try and reach through to the real her. Take it from me Flora, no spell or curse for that matter really is permanent. All you have to do is research this one, find the right spell and with enough magic, you can break the curse. But when it comes time to use the spell, you'll have to do it on your own."

"Is there a library in the palace? We'll help you research the curse," said Tecna.

"You want to introduce us to your friends?" asked Queen Tula. Both Flora and her parents had completely forgotten they were there.

"My manners have completely left me, I'm sorry," said Flora. "This is Bloom, Sky, Stella, Brandon, Musa, Riven, Tecna, Timmy, Layla, Jason and I think you remember Helia."

"Of course," said her mom. "The library is at the end of the hall, last door on the right. There's a special section on curses. Go!"

All right, so we have the team back to full confidence, ready to go and save Guinevere and Lynphea. Don't you just love it when Helia is able to see through Flora's fears and anxieties and know that there is a strong, powerful fairy behind it? Moments between the two of them are my favorite moments in the show. He's my favorite of the specialists. Anyway, what's going to happen next time? Stay tuned!


	10. Chapter 9: The Real Guinevere

All right guys. Here's the next chapter. I'm sorry it's taken me so long to put this one up, I've been busy getting ready for college. I'm going to be busy with schoolwork, but I'll get on when I can and post more chapters. Studying won't stop me from being an active member of this community, you can count on that.

**Chapter 9: The Real Guinevere**

When they got to the library, everyone except Flora gasped at the sight of it. There were two stories with hundreds of bookshelves, containing thousands upon thousands of books, with topics ranging from different plants and their uses to advanced level spells and curses, though those books mostly gave information on counter spells, not how to actually hex someone. Tecna and Timmy dashed all over the place, looking at all the books, wondering which ones they wanted to read first. They would have spent the entire day in there if they didn't have a mission they had to complete.

"Look at this Timmy," said Tecna, gesturing at him to come and stand next to her. He did so and looked interestedly at the titles of the books she was looking at. "These books are all on the use of illusion spells. I'd love to learn some of these."

"Come on you two, we don't have time to look around in amazement," said Sky, who was seriously hoping Timmy wouldn't discover the four or five books that library had on technology. He was prepared to drag his friend away if he had to, just because they had to get this mission done. Timmy just sighed; he wanted to look through the place more thoroughly, but he knew Sky was right and they had to get to work.

"Where does one look if they want to find a counter curse?" asked Musa.

"All these books are on curses," said Flora, gesturing to a dozen bookshelves behind her. "There has to be something in here."

"Flora, there are so many books here, where do we start?" asked Bloom.

"The only way to really find something in here is just to look around and pray you'll find what you're looking for," said Flora. "Just be prepared to get a little frustrated. Half the time, either I never find what I'm looking for, or the books I do find give me stuff I can't use." When she saw the looks on everyone else's faces, she quickly said, "but seeing as we're on kind of a tight schedule here, let's speed this up with a little bit of magic."

"Leave it to me," said Tecna. She waved her hand over some of the bookshelves and several books flew off the shelves. They flew in circles around her and then the words left the pages and flew around in front of her. The others watched curiously as they saw her eyes darting back and forth, taking it all in. The words were moving around her very quickly, and none could understand how she was managing to read it all, but somehow or other she was.

"Is she actually reading all that?" asked Jason.

"It's a speed reading spell," said Musa. Everyone except Tecna looked at her as if to say, "how did you know that?" Musa sighed and said, "I've been Tecna's roommate for two years now. That's the only spell she uses when she's doing her homework. Gets the job done quickly and efficiently."

They spent several minutes watching her, but she stayed in that state, never seeming to snap out of it. It was as though she was in a trance, completely oblivious to the rest of the world and the people around her. She seemed to have forgotten that all her friends were still in the room. All her attention was on the books, and it looked as though she was going to be like that for a good while. Even Musa was a little stunned at how deeply immersed she was.

"It's been awhile since she's been that absorbed in the spell," she said. "It means she's getting close to something, so whatever you do, don't bug her unless she's ready to come out of it."

"How will we know when she's ready to come out of it?" asked Timmy, who'd been about to nudge her to see if she was even still alive.

"Usually, she just snaps out of it," said Musa. "Sometimes, like when it's time for dinner or something, I have to shake her out of it. She's always super mad whenever I do that though. Most of the time, when she does snaps herself out of it, you can see it. She starts looking less transfixed." Timmy backed off immediately. The last thing he wanted was for his girlfriend to be mad at him, particularly in this situation.

They watched and saw the books moving around her faster and faster and she was miraculously keeping up with all of them. Just when they thought she'd be that way for hours, she clapped her hands and said, "got it." All the books immediately flew back to their places on the shelves.

"You found out how to break the curse?" asked Flora.

"There was actually a special chapter on the curse Guinevere's under," said Tecna. "Similar curses have been used in past centuries, so the counter curse I found should work. Apparently, Guinevere was told that the curse would become permanent, so that she'd give up hope pretty early on and that would just give it more strength. It can still be broken, she just can't switch between her good self and bad self like she could before last night. We have to make her remember who she really is. But the catch is that you're the only one who has a shot at it Flora."

"Should have known that was coming," whispered Flora. "I'm the only one who can do it?"

"Yep," said Tecna. "Don't worry. The real Guinevere is still in there somewhere, but it's going to take a spell the size of this palace to break that curse." The girls didn't look that thrilled when she said that. "Oh come on, it's just an expression," she said. "I just meant it'll take all your Charmix power to do it, that's all."

"What are we waiting for then?" asked Layla. "Let's find Guinevere."

"Don't worry about it, she'll find us," said Flora.

"Got that right Flora!" They all looked up just in time to see Guinevere come flying down at them from the rafters. "Dark Shadow!" Everyone dodged the attack but it left a bookshelf smoking at one of the corners, which Layla put it out with a little water. This made both Flora and Tecna very hot under the collar; several of these books were irreplaceable.

"Anyone else think we oughtta take this outside?" asked Bloom.

"Yeah, good idea Bloom," said Stella. All the girls transformed, cast a vanishing spell, and reappeared a few feet outside the palace gates. Guinevere performed the same spell and followed them. At the same time, Icy, Darcy and Stormy appeared out of nowhere, balls of magic already forming in their outstretched hands. The Winx girls and heroes were cornered.

"You've got nowhere to run pixies," said Icy.

"We're not planning on running!" yelled Bloom. "Dragon Blast!" Icy dodged the attack, simultaneously dodging Sky, trying to knock her out of the air. "All right, that's it!" snarled the witch. "You boy toys are officially getting on my nerves." She conjured another troll out of thin air to keep them busy, making all the guys groan in exasperation.

"Aw man, not again!" yelled Brandon.

"Don't these witches have any ideas of their own?" asked Jason. "I mean, they do the same stuff every time we see them."

"Don't tempt them," said Riven. "If they find their ideas are getting old, they'll just make up quick new ones, and if they do, it'll be harder for the girls to stop them, and harder for us to help the girls. Let's just beat this guy for now."

Flora knew she had to be the one to get to Guinevere. She knew the boys could handle the troll and the girls could take care of themselves against the witches. But she had to face Guinevere alone if there was any chance of saving her. The girls realized this as well, and decided that they had to hold the witches off long enough for Flora to try nad reach out to Guinevere.

"Okay, here's the plan," said Bloom, shouting out orders like the true leader she was. "I'll take care of Icy. Musa and Layla, see if you can keep Darcy out of the way, Tecna and Stella, you do the same for Stormy."

"Right!" they all said together. The five fairies flew forward, ready to take the witches out. The three witches, just as the girls planned, were ready and willing to take them on. They didn't see what was going, but Guinevere did. She called to them to wait a moment, but they were already too absorbed in the battle against the fairies. The mastermind just looked over at Flora, who was gliding softly towards her. She was a little surprised that the fairy of nature was acting so calmly, so reserved, when she should be running, or more likely, flying for her life, as she had done the previous day. Guinevere just crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows at Flora, knowing that this girl was about to try and convert her back to the side of good, and she was fully prepared to stomp her into the ground for it.

Sure enough, instead of fighting, Flora began speaking, and from the very start, all Guinevere did was roll her eyes.

"Guinevere, listen to me!" said Flora, starting to fly towards her. "This isn't the real you. You're a kind, honest girl, the only one in Rampara since before Earshra's time. We can be friends if you just trust me."

"That Guinevere is gone forever Flora!" yelled the Ramparan princess. "All there is now is an evil princess, ready to complete her ancestor's dream and rule all the realms. If you don't like it, then get used to it. Rampara and Lynphea will both be like this forever and soon every realm will be as well. I will be queen of them all!"

She started firing her strongest attacks at Flora, but the flower fairy dodged them all. She was amazed at how more agile she was than the day before, but then, she didn't have energy or confidence the day before. Today, she knew she was going to change Guinevere, and if she didn't, then no one else would.

The rest of the group by this time had all stopped their fights to watch what was going on between the two girls. The boys had taken care of the troll long since, and the girls had managed to subdue the witches, and even they were watching interestedly, sure that Guinevere was going to win.

"Come on Flora," Helia kept whispering over and over again. "You can do this. I believe in you."

Flora believed in herself as well. She could feel Helia sending his support to her, and that was all she needed to take Guinevere out. Once she was sure she had a clear shot, she dodged another of Guinevere's attacks and sent of her own. Guinevere dodged, but by this time, she was positively fuming. She started firing every single ball of energy she could muster, but not one of them hit her opponent. All the witch could do was stare in amazement; Flora had barely moved, and yet none of the attacks had gone near her.

"Nice shooting, unless you were aiming for me," said Flora.

"I don't understand," stuttered Guinevere. "Why couldn't I hit you?"

"Maybe because you realize that this whole thing is pointless and impossible. No one can rule all the realms," yelled Flora. "No one can control all the power that entails. Not even you, you must know that. Total realm domination would only culminate in misery for all people and too much power for you to handle."

"Don't you dare tell me I can't handle power," said Guinevere. "I have all Earshra's power in the palm of my hand. I can do anything I want, whenever I want and there's nothing you can do about it!"

"I can do more about it than you think!" yelled Flora. "Charmix power now!" Her Charmix appeared on her pink Winx dress and she yelled, "Venus Vine Wrap!" Strong vines wrapped around Guinevere and held her still for a few seconds before she was able to break free from them.

"You'll pay for that!" she yelled. "Dark Sha…"

She gasped and instantly lowered her hands, amazed at the sight before her. A pink glow had started to form around Flora, an impossibly bright glow, almost blinding, that made everyone shield their eyes against it. She was glowing brightly, so brightly that they could barely see her in the middle of it.

"What's happening to her?" asked Helia, who had only partly closed his eyes. He wasn't going to take them off Flora no matter what.

"If I didn't know any better," said Stella. "I would say her Winx has just gotten a huge power boost."

"Do you think she has enough power to defeat Guinevere?" asked Musa.

"I'd say she has a pretty good shot at it," said Layla.

"What's up with the flower pixie?" asked Darcy.

"I don't know, but let's get her before she gets us," said Icy. "Ice Crystals!" She fired several ice crystals at Flora, but when they approached the flower fairy, they just melted into thin air. Icy immediately backed off, knowing she wouldn't be able to do anything against Flora.

In a moment of blazing clarity, they all realized what had happened. She had just unlocked all the power within her, all the power the great Princess Lilia once had. Flora knew what she had to do. It felt as though the spirit of her ancestor was guiding her along, telling her what do. She could almost feel Lilia standing right there by her, acting her role as protector, advisor and guardian angel. Flora glowed even more brightly and a golden barrier formed between her and Guinevere. Every time Guinevere fired an attack at her, she just absorbed the entire thing. Guinevere, starting to get scared, fired at the walls of the barrier, but they didn't give way. She was trapped.

"Guinevere," said Flora, her voice echoing, bouncing off the walls of the barrier. Her voice was soft and quiet, yet they could all hear the words clear as day, as though they were standing right next to her. "Can't you see what this curse has done to you? It's only made you a power-hungry witch, whose heart is so intent upon ruling the world that it can think of absolutely nothing else. But at heart, you know you're not really a witch, you're a fairy like me. You've always had and still have Winx like me."

"I had Winx," said Guinevere. "The very first time I used those powers, my parents cast all these spells on me that would prohibit me from using my magic, saying if I ever used it again, the punishment would be worse. The day they put that evilness spell on me was the best day of my life. It made me see my true side and kept my Winx bottled up inside where I couldn't use it. And to think those times I was still my good self was spent trying to break that spell."

"That's enough!" yelled Flora. Power surged from her, knocking Guinevere back against the wall of the barrier. She hit the ground with a hard thud, and when she tried to get back up, not only could she not move, but she had lost the ability to fly. Flora continued, "You're still a fairy, you can still fight beside me and free both our realms from all this darkness. It's the only way things can ever come out best for everyone. You know that and so do I."

"That's not true," said Guinevere, but even she wasn't convinced. Those words were getting through to her.

"Hey check out Guinevere," said Stella. They all looked at her and saw that she was starting to glow and was starting to look different. In one second, they saw the Guinevere they'd been fighting and in the next, they saw a girl in green Winx apparel sitting there. She kept changing back and forth between the good side of herself and the bad. It meant that Flora's spell was working.

"Keep it up Flora, you've almost got her," said Bloom.

Flora didn't say anything else, she just concentrated her energy more, saying those thoughts to herself. Power radiated all over the area, and Guinevere seemed to be lapping it all up, even though part of her still didn't want to. Finally, she glowed one last golden glow, which lasted for a moment before her evil side disappeared. She opened her eyes, they were still red. But she blinked and they had gone back to that beautiful, deep blue color Flora remembered so well.

"My Winx," she whispered, as she realized her outfit had changed. She was wearing a pair of shorts, like Stella's except a very deep shade of green, like the green of new leaves on trees. She was also wearing a matching top with glittery, see-through sleeves and a small green piece of silk around her neck, with a blue diamond attached to it. She was also wearing a pair of high heeled shoes with lace crisscrossing up her legs until they reached her knees, her wings were the same shape as Flora's except white and her hair reached down to her shoulders, once again half pulled back in a braid. She was no longer the evil witch she had been, but was once again, the kind, beautiful fairy Flora had met in the palace. They could also tell that the evil Power of Rampara had been converted to the side of good as well, so Guinevere was just as powerful as she had been before, but was now able to use it for good and not worry about an evil side making all the decisions for her. She looked around at them, confused at first, and smiled the first true smile she had in a long time.

"Welcome back Guinevere," said Flora.

Guinevere replied, "it's good to be back. Thank you Flora." A Charmix appeared right in the middle of her heart in the shape of the ideal cut of a diamond and a white bag appeared on her left side that wrapped around her waist.

"Oh, hold my hair back, I think I'm going to hurl," said Darcy. They had all forgotten the witches were still there.

"It's time to show you girls some real power," said Stormy. "Psycho Cyclone!"

"Mesmerizer!"

"Ice Crystals!"

Guinevere and Flora deflected their attacks easily and fired their strongest ones at the three witches. Each could feel the powers of their realms flowing through their veins, which was an amazing feeling, like they could do anything. Guinevere was surprised at how much better she could handle these powers, better than she could a few minutes before. The three witches were easily overpowered. They started to fly away, but not before Icy managed to get a few last words in.

"I knew you wouldn't last long Guinevere," said Icy. "You're a stupid pixie, just like the rest of them. But whether you're on their side doesn't do any good now. The forces of Rampara are still running around this realm freely and they're still under an evil spell. They've dispersed so much through this realm that you'll never be able to take the spell off all of them."

"We'll see about that," said Guinevere. She knew her forces would listen to her, and that she could easily get them back to her realm.

"Come on Icy, let's get out of here," said Darcy, and the three of them disappeared before they could stop them. Flora and Guinevere both changed back into their regular forms and drifted softly to the ground exhausted. Instead of hitting the cobblestone walk though, Flora landed in a pair of strong arms, those of Helia. They looked at each other for a minute, then threw their arms around each other.

"I knew you could do it Flora," said Helia. "I never doubted you for a minute."

"I love you Helia," replied Flora. They just held each other, glad that one part of the mission was over. The rest however was yet to begin.

All right, that's another chapter down. So we have Guinevere back to the good side, but what we also have one evil realm taking over a good realm. But you have to remember that Rampara really isn't an evil realm, it's just under a spell. But you have to wait for me to tell you whether or not it'll go back to being good. Stay tuned!


	11. Chapter 10: The Room of Time

I'm glad you guys enjoyed that last chapter. But just wait, there's more to come. Now that they've got Guinevere back, they have to actually break the curse over Rampara and free both it and Lynphea from darkness. Easier said than done.

You guys are going to love this next chapter, it's all about time, it has a history lesson, and has a big, and I mean, _really big_ surprise for Flora and Helia.

**Chapter 10: The Room of Time**

Flora pulled away from Helia just a little bit, but he didn't seem to want to let go of her, which was soon explained. The instant she tried to stand on her own, she stumbled a bit. He caught her and helped her up, but she was so tired that she could barely hold herself up.

She wasn't the only one. Guinevere had been sitting on the ground for several minutes trying to catch her breath. Jason held his hand out to help her up, which made Layla very jealous. She glared at Guinevere, suspiciously as though she didn't think the curse was really broken, and angrily, mad at the thought that she might lose her almost boyfriend.

"Are you both ok?" asked Bloom, speaking to Flora and Guinevere.

"Just a little tired," said Flora. "Breaking that curse took more energy that I thought it would."

"I told you it would take a spell the size of your castle to break it Flora," said Tecna, a little indignantly. "Honestly, no one listens to me anymore."

"That isn't true Tecna," said Timmy putting an arm around her. "I listen to you."

"You're just about the only one Timmy," said Tecna, crossing her arms, but giving him a grateful smile.

"Uh guys, does anyone else think we should get back inside the palace?" asked Stella.

"Why Stella?" asked Musa, looking at her curiously.

"That's why," said Stella, pointing in the distance. The sky was pitch black from all the evil still pouring into Lynphea from Rampara. But a gigantic storm cloud was coming towards them, raining water droplets that made the trees and plants wilt at first touch. None of the girls wanted to think what it could do to them.

Tecna pulled out her trusty handheld and said, "Stella's right, we have to get back inside the palace. If that rain touches us, it'll drain our Winx in seconds." Flora waved her hands and within seconds, they were standing in the entrance hall in the palace. The girls all powered down their Winx, deciding it was best to save it for when they needed it. Besides, none were sure how much longer they could keep their strength up.

"Now what do we do?" asked Layla.

"Now, you have to stop Icy, Darcy and Stormy from leading the Ramparan troops against Lynphea," said the queen, walking up to them. "Many of our forces have already fallen, Flora and Guinevere are the only ones who can stop this now." But neither fairy seemed too keen on the idea.

"What can we do though?" asked Flora, a note of hopelessness in her usually cheery voice. "I mean Guinevere and I just got all these new powers, we don't even know how to use them."

"She's right," said Guinevere. "I don't see what we can do if we don't even know half of what we can do."

"I have something that might answer all your questions," said the queen. "Flora, do you remember that room in the tallest tower?"

"The one I begged you to let me into when I was kid but you never would?" asked Flora, eyes narrowed.

"Exactly," replied her mother smiling. "I had to stop you sneaking in a few times. Well, I think it's time you did know what was in there. Follow me." They all started to follow her up the stairs, but she said, "Flora and Guinevere only."

"It's okay guys, I'll tell you everything when I get back," said Flora.

"No you won't," said the queen. "That room is a family secret. I'm letting Guinevere in because there's something in there that concerns her too. You're both forbidden to tell anyone about it. Understand?" Seeing the stern look she gave them, neither Flora nor Guinevere dared argue. "Good, now follow me." The two girls walked slowly up the stairs and out of sight of the rest of the group. The others waited until they were gone before they started talking.

"Ok, does anyone else but me think we've got the short end of the stick here?" asked Stella. "I mean Flora gets all the good stuff, and what do we get? We get to do nothing but sit around here until she gets back."

"Relax Stella," said Bloom. "While she's up there doing, whatever it is that she's doing, we'll stay here and see if we can find out anymore about what the witches are up to. A little surveillance probably wouldn't hurt."

"Good idea Bloom, but we can't exactly fly out there and spy on them without either getting caught or getting our Winx zapped by that rain," said Layla.

"Then, we'll do a little spy work," said Sky, "right guys?"

"No thanks," said Riven. "The last time I went spying on those witches, I got put under a 100-year sleep spell, and I definitely don't want to go through that again."

"You know Riven, even if you do get put under one of those spells, you'll have me to snap you out of it," said Musa. She gave him a little glare that told him she would come to his aid in a second, and he couldn't help but think for a minute, "okay, maybe this isn't such a bad idea after all."

"And besides Riven, you have the most surveillance training in this group," said Sky. "Why don't you and Helia come with me and we'll see if we can find out what the witches are up to? Is that ok with you Helia? Helia?"

Not only did Helia not answer, he wasn't there at all. He had disappeared.

"That's weird," said Brandon. "He was right here a minute ago. After the battle, he didn't leave Flora's side. Where'd he go?"

"I'll give you three guesses," said Stella, her eyes wandering off up the stairs, following the path Flora had taken with the Queen and Guinevere.

"You don't think he's followed them?" asked Tecna.

"How much you wanna bet he has?" asked Layla.

"How do you think he got away though?" asked Timmy. "Helia's a really quiet guy sure, but he couldn't risk one of us seeing him climb the stairs."

"He came to visit over the summer, he probably knows a couple side passages that'll get him up to the tower," said Musa.

"But the queen said that wherever they're going is a family secret," said Jason. "There's no telling what'll happen to him if he gets caught."

"Flora will be able to smooth it over," said Bloom, but she said quietly to herself, "I hope."

While the others had been talking about spying on the witches, Flora and Guinevere had followed the queen up to the tallest tower, which was accessed by a spiral staircase on the second floor. They climbed the stairs until they reached a large door with several stars, the sun and the moon carved into it. Flora and Guinevere exchanged excited glances, both eager to see what lay beyond the door. Flora was even more excited than Guinevere was, she'd wanted to go inside since she was five years old.

"What do you think is inside?" whispered Guinevere.

"I've been wondering that for years," Flora whispered back. "It has to be something really special or really powerful, or both."

Queen Tula was about to push the door open, but then she paused, making the girls look at her puzzled. She sighed and said, "you can come out now young man."

"Who are you talking to Mother?" asked Flora. The queen pointed behind her. Flora turned around to see Helia walking forward, looking anywhere but right at them. Flora walked towards him and put her hands on his shoulders, gazing into his eyes. "Helia, what are you doing here?" she asked. "You heard what my mother said, this room is a family secret."

"It's all right Flora," said Queen Tula smiling. "I've been in here hundreds of times since I was your age. I know who I can let in and who I can't. And I know I can let all three of you in."

"Oh," said Flora. She met Guinevere's gaze and knew that they were both thinking the exact same thing. The room was a family secret, so the reason she was saying that was because she knew Helia would become a member of the family one day.

Guinevere smiled to herself and said silently, "It's a good thing the others aren't here. These two would die of embarrassment."

Just the idea of what her mother had suggested made Flora a little nervous, but also excited. She tried hard to hide the expression on her face as she said silently, "I hope Helia didn't realize what she meant by that. I love him, but I don't want to jump the gun any or speed things up in our relationship."

She looked at Helia and saw that he was looking in the opposite direction, meaning he had realized what she had meant. Both of them were blushing furiously. Silently, he was thinking to himself, "did she really mean that?"

"Are you ready?" asked the queen. The three of them nodded and she pushed the door open. They walked into a large circular room, with many different trinkets, mirrors, crystal balls, all of them used to see the past, present and future. Flora, Helia and Guinevere looked in amazement at all the different objects, and at the sheer beauty of the room as a whole.

Queen Tula just smiled and said, "Welcome to the Room of Time. Everything in this room can show you something in time. That over there," she said pointing to a mirror on the wall, "can show you a memory from the past. But it will only show you memories from your own past. Go ahead, try it." Flora walked up to it and smiled as she saw the day she and Helia first met at Red Fountain. There he was drawing a picture of doves and Flora was there, complimenting him on it. Helia placed his arm around her and gave her a gentle kiss on the cheek.

Guinevere shuddered and fell back when she saw the day the curse was put on her. She saw herself tied up, struggling to break the bonds around her wrists, and then the full impact of the curse hitting her, and the evil Guinevere rising up. But then she remembered something about that day that she'd long since forgotten. She'd felt some kind of presence when the curse was being put on her, something trying to hold the spell back. It was that spirit that had kept her from 

becoming truly evil and was able to become her good self on occasions. But she still didn't know what that presence was.

She walked away and saw a large ball of light a few feet away. "That," continued the queen, pointing to the ball of light, "can show you what's happening right now in other realms. But out of everything, this is the greatest treasure this room holds," she said stopping in front of a small pool of water in the exact center of the room. "This is the Pool of Infinity. It will show you anything that you may wish to see, past present and future. It shows the exact future, does not alter details from the past and will not show something that isn't true. It's spelled so that it will always show things that were, are and will be. Flora, all you have to do is concentrate on something and you will see it."

Flora thought a moment and decided she wanted to know where her new found powers had come from. She let her hand glide over the surface of the water, concentrating all the while on what she wanted to know and something appeared in the water.

"What's happening?" she asked as she saw several people standing in the image.

"It's showing you how both Lynphea and Rampara were created, millions of years ago," said the queen. "By showing you this, it can explain to you how you both got your powers."

The four of them watched as a small group of warlocks and one fairy stood around the deserted land, looking around at the barren wasteland around them. The whole place composed of desert and rocks. There were no flowers, no birds, no rivers, nothing that made it look like a place where all life could survive. The group was standing in the middle of the whole thing, in a patch of sand.

"That ground is where this palace now stands," said Queen Tula.

"You're kidding," said Flora. "That was our realm when it was created?"

"Yes, now watch," said the queen. They watched as the fairy transformed into her Winx apparel, which was strikingly similar to Flora's, and rose up into the air, casting several spells on the entire realm. She simply radiated power, slowly but steadily making the realm beautiful and inhabitable. Plants that were dead and wilting sprung into life. Grass grew in all places and flowers bloomed in the meadows. Large cliffs became gigantic waterfalls, pouring down into lakes with flowers bordering them and large rainbows arching over them.

When the spell was completed, the woman drifted to the ground and to her surprise, the warlocks bowed down to her. She, who had cast all the spells and brought prosperity to the land, was to become the realm's first queen, Queen Rosa. A large palace was built in her honor and it had remained exactly intact even to the present day. The City of Trees was built, where the Sage of Lynphea could live, and act as her most trusted advisor.

Soon after all this, Rose married and had two children: a son, Sean, and a daughter, Isabella. Isabella looked exactly like Guinevere and Sean had the same hair color as Flora. It wasn't hard to tell who was descended from whom.

"This shows how Lynphea was created, but what about Rampara?" asked Guinevere.

"Keep watching," said Flora's mom.

They saw that many people started to move to Lynphea, how many houses and marketplaces were built, and how the place prospered. But soon, there were too many people for the realm to handle and it could not expand any further. So Queen Rosa created a neighboring realm, the realm of Rampara. A gate would connect the two realms so people could live in both realms and commute between them whenever they pleased.

Tears sprung to Guinevere's eyes as she saw what her realm had looked like before all the evil. It was almost exactly the same as Lynphea, but a little smaller in area. It was beautiful. In order to keep peace in that realm, the queen sent her daughter, Isabella, to Rampara to become their queen and asked her son to stay behind to train him to be King of Lynphea. Fairly soon after that, Isabella married and had children as well. Rosa had a special gift made for her, a necklace. It was a gold choker made of small gold rectangles with a blue green diamond dangling from it. She wore it for the rest of her life, never taking it off.

"So if the first Queen of Rampara was the first Queen of Lynphea's daughter," said Flora, "that would make Guinevere and me…"

"Cousins," finished her mom. In Flora's mind, that explained the bond she'd felt between her and Guinevere, the one she'd felt when they first met. It was a bond of family.

They watched on and to Flora and Guinevere's horror, they saw dark magic starting to enter the two realms, and several witches attacking both the palaces. Flora remembered seeing pictures of witches similar to these in her history books, but she found it hard to believe when she saw the witches in the pool.

"Is that the coven?" asked Flora. "The one that attacked Sparx?"

"In a way, yes," said her mother. "These witches were the original coven, the first group of witches that ever dreamed of total-realm domination. The ones that attacked Sparx were their descendents and from what Ms. Faragonda tells me, Icy, Darcy and Stormy are the only ones left."

Flora, Helia and Guinevere all looked at her in amazement. "All right, so I'm in Ms. Faragonda's confidence. I like to know things, like what's happening with dark magic and things like that in Magix. She keeps me informed of that and I keep her informed of what's happening here in case you need to return quickly Flora. Now watch on."

They saw the royal councils of both realms getting together for a meeting. Queen Rosa and her daughter, Queen Isabella, decided the only way to defeat the coven was to create large amounts of power, a set for each of them. They would use this power to defeat the coven and restore peace to both their realms. The mother-daughter team clasped hands and said a spell which would create a power source that would be strong enough to defeat the coven. They used this power to drive the coven out of their realms once and for all.

But unknown to them, one witch in the coven had cast a dark spell on the power of Rampara. Just as she was being driven out of the realm, she cast a curse on Isabella's power source, one that she was unable to detect. The current queen would be good forever, but the next ruler to use this supreme power would become evil and lead the forces of Rampara against all others, even their allies in Lynphea.

"I can't believe it," said Guinevere, her tears now beginning to fall down her face. "I just can't believe it. All this just because of one small spell the witch's coven cast on us early on. If we had found about this sooner, none of this would have happened, Rampara would never have been sealed off and we would have grown up best friends Flora. Why wasn't this picked up sooner?"

"It's all right sweetie," said Flora, putting a hand on Guinevere's shoulder. "We're friends now and that's what matters."

"You're right," said Guinevere, smiling.

They saw the two royal councils come to a meeting again. They realized that the power was too great for just anyone to handle and knew that not all the rulers of either realm would be able to handle it. They saw the two queens come to an agreement. When they died, the power would go into concealed parts of their palaces, until the next person who could use it was born.

"Now Flora, watch what happened a thousand years ago," said the queen.

Flora let her hand glide gently over the surface of the water again and the pool fast forwarded through several million years of history until it reached the day Lilia was born. The power of Lynphea came out of its solitary slumber for the first time since the first queen's death and it entered Lilia's body that first night. When her parents realized she had that power, they were overjoyed, for everyone thought the power would never find another owner. In fact, all the greatest scholars and historians of the realm had begun to believe that this power was a myth, created to tell people how the witches had been defeated many years before.

A few weeks later, Earshra was born and the power of Rampara went to her as well. At first, her parents were overjoyed, for neither of those powers had inhabited anyone except their original owners. Earshra started out as such a nice girl, helping people, but snapping every once in a while.

But then they began to notice changes in her. She began to take offence to everything that was said to her, and snapped for no good reason. The only time she smiled was a cruel smirk, and that was only when things went in her favor. As she grew older, she began to grow more and more evil, culminating in a horrible spell she cast when she was 16. She overthrew her parents, brought the entire realm of Rampara under her control, and she led her forces against Lynphea. Because of the spell she had cast, all the realm's armies were ready and willing to do whatever she asked of them.

Then they saw the famous battle between Lilia and Earshra, in which both had put their ancient powers to the limit, but Lilia had won. They heard those words Earshra had spoken to Lilia just before she was sent back to Rampara and soon after that, the gate into Rampara was sealed. Then, they saw how Lilia had a secret passage built in the palace of the Lynphea, where the power of Rampara could be stored safely. It was impossible to get to it without Lilia's consent, unless Earshra got out of Rampara and broke her way into the secret chamber. The power tried to get out its confinement and back to Earshra so she could use it, but it could not break out of the hold Lilia had put it in.

"It's like these powers have minds of their own," said Helia.

"They do, when no one is controlling them," said the queen. "When an heir does have control of them, they do what is ordered and then when that heir dies, they just wait for the next heir that can control them. Now watch."

They saw how the Power of Rampara had calmed down when Earshra died and the Power of Lynphea went back into its passive slumber when Lilia passed away. No heir did ever gain control of them, until Flora and Guinevere were born. The Power of Lynphea stirred again and entered Flora's body, when she was born, waiting patiently for the day when she'd realize she could use it.

When Guinevere was born, the Power of Rampara started fighting to get out of its prison again, but even after a thousand years, the spells Lilia had put on that power to keep it away from Rampara were still strong. Flora waved her hand over the pool again and it jumped 16 years to the present day. She saw the gate to Rampara cracking because Guinevere's evil side was firing at it. Then the girl slipped into Lynphea although no one else could. Then she saw how the two girls had retrieved the power of Rampara, broken the gate and then how she had broken the curse.

"Did I really do all that?" asked Flora, looking up at Helia.

"You did my darling," said Helia.

"Now do you understand why these powers are yours?" asked the queen. Both girls nodded, realizing they were always meant to have them. "You both will always be able to control them. All you have to do is concentrate hard enough on the spell and it will be done. And I'm happy to say that the Power of Rampara will never be evil again. When you broke that curse Flora, you not only freed Guinevere, but you released the power of Rampara forever. The spell also included a protection spell against evil, so neither of those powers will ever be evil again. Now all we have to do is cast a spell that will rid both our realms of this darkness once and for all."

"Wait," said Guinevere, "can we look into the future for a moment?"

"I don't see why not," said the queen smiling. "And as I said, the pool does not show different outcomes for one situation in the future. It shows exactly what will happen."

Exchanging in an excited look with Guinevere, Flora waved her hand over the surface again and saw the two realms seven years later, living in harmony once more with people commuting between them. Then, they saw Guinevere's coronation as Queen of Rampara and then Flora's coronation as Queen of Lynphea. They were both to ascend their thrones at age 23 and by that time, both of them would be married. Guinevere saw a handsome man with short blonde hair and blue eyes like hers and how they were to be crowned King and Queen. But what she didn't find out was his name or when she would meet him. But then she decided she didn't want to know everything, a little bit of surprise might be good for her.

Then, they saw the full vision of what Flora had seen earlier that day, a vision which made both her and Helia start blushing again. They were to be crowned King and Queen, with all their friends looking on. The vision faded as the crowns were placed atop their heads. Neither of them looked at each other on the way back to the throne room. They each had embarrassed looks on their faces, but inside, they were both filled with joy at the thought that they would spend the rest of their lives together.

How do you like that for a chapter? Flora and Guinevere learn the full history of their realms and powers, find out that they're cousins, and learn who they're going to marry. Don't worry, I wasn't going to have Flora marry anyone other than Helia, and I thought it might be cool if they went ahead and found out that they were destined for true love. This little scenario is going to stir up a lot of conversation between them in future stories in this series.

All right, when we come back, we'll have the update on the boys spying on the witches. Stay tuned!


	12. Chapter 11: Spying on the Witches

Hey guys, it's time for the next installment. Let's recap, in the last one, we had Flora, Guinevere and Helia visit the Room of Time, in which we learned that Flora and Guinevere are cousins, how the two powers of the realm came into being, and that Flora and Helia will someday get married. Yeah!

Now, we get back to the others, who have their own problems going on. Happy reading!

**Chapter 11: Spying on the witches**

"When are they going to get back?" asked Stella. She and the rest of the girls had been waiting for two things: 1) for Helia, Guinevere and Flora to get back from the Room of Time (of course they still didn't know what the Room of Time was) and 2) for Sky, Brandon and Riven to get back from spying on the witches. They were all starting to get impatient, wanting some news of what was going on with their friends. Most of the girls were pacing back and forth, Stella wasn't because she didn't want to ruin her shoes. But that didn't stop her from complaining like there was no tomorrow. "We've been waiting here for ages."

"Calm down Stella," said Bloom, walking over to her, and trying to calm her down. Though she had to admit, it was hard to do that when you were ready to go crazy from boredom yourself. "They'll be back soon enough."

"I know," said Stella. "I'm just worried about my snookums."

"We're all worried, but we have to keep thinking positive thoughts," said Bloom.

"Do you think the rest of us are just chillin' over here Stella?" said Musa. "I don't want Riven to get put under another 100-year sleep spell. If Darcy does that to him again, I won't rest until I make her pay for it."

"Don't worry girls," said Layla. "They'll be fine. They know how to take care of themselves."

"Yeah, there's an 88 chance they'll be fine," said Tecna.

"But what about that other 12?" asked Stella, who by this time had quit worrying about her shoes, and began pacing back and forth. She couldn't get her mind off her precious boyfriend.

"Quit pacing Stella," said Bloom. "You're going to wear a hole in the floor."

"Sorry," said Stella. "I just don't want anything to happen to Brandon."

"None of us want something to happen to them," said Jason.

"Yeah, they'll be okay, everything will be okay," said Timmy. "Just wait and see."

"I don't like waiting," said Layla, walking to the window. "I like things to happen quickly, mainly so I can find out what's happening and what I can do to help. I feel so helpless just standing here."

"Relax Layla," said Jason, putting his arm around her. "We'll know what's happening soon." He smiled at her but she couldn't even bring herself to look at him. She was still nervous around him, and had been ever since the first time he'd kissed her at the dance last semester.

Jason noticed that Layla wasn't in the mood for consoling, but it was with a bit of a hurt expression that he withdrew his arm. He wasn't the only one who noticed what kind of mood she was in. Bloom and Stella walked off to one side and started talking quietly to each other.

"What's up with Layla?" asked Stella. "Every time Jason gets near her, she gets all defensive. It's totally unnecessary, and a waste of time, when we should be out trying to find the guys.

"She's just nervous around Jason," said Bloom. "She's not used to having a boyfriend. Remember, you set her up on a blind date against her will; she only went because you made her. Even though it may turn out all right, you have to give her time to get used to this relationship."

"We need to get her used to it," said Stella. "She needs to find out what it's like to be in love. That's like the only thing she's missed out on."

"Love has to come naturally Stella," said Bloom. "When they're ready to admit it to each other, they will. In the meantime, don't try to influence every single event in their lives. Sometimes you just have to let relationships run their course."

"But it's more fun to play matchmaker," said Stella.

"I know, but you just have to give them a little time," said Bloom. "Look at Musa and Riven. It took them a long time to admit how they felt about each other and now they love each other, though Riven hasn't actually used the "l" word yet. Maybe we just need to give Layla and Jason a little more time to get comfortable around each other too."

"Oh okay," said Stella walking off. Bloom shook her head at her friend's antics, then walked to the window and looked out at the dark skies of Lynphea. Rain was still pouring down and lightning was striking everywhere. All this talk about boyfriends had reminded her just how worried she was about Sky.

"I hope he's all right," she said to herself.

--

Sky, Brandon and Riven had no problem in finding the witches. The fact that Stormy was throwing lightning bolts at everything made them pretty easy to track down. They hid in a grove of trees that hadn't yet been affected by the rain, which was quite an achievement because the rain had pretty much made every kind of plant life in the realm deteriorate.

"Stormy, will you calm down?" asked Darcy. "It's not like we ever beat them anyway."

"Yeah, but it's worse now. The power of Rampara has gone back to the good side and that stupid flower pixie has gotten more power than ever before. You just know we're not going to be able to get near Flora with those powers protecting her," said Stormy, throwing another lightning bolt.

"We just underestimated how powerful that fairy is," said Icy. "I didn't think anyone could have as much power as Bloom, but apparently Flora does. Now we just need to come up with a plan to get their powers and make sure that they don't take this spell off both their realms."

"We already have a plan," said Darcy. Icy and Stormy looked at her incredulously. "Honestly, don't you two read?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Stormy.

"Remember when we were doing research at Cloud Tower's library a few months ago?" she asked. The other two witches nodded. Riven, Sky and Brandon moved forward through the trees so they could hear better. Darcy continued, "well I found out about what happened in Rampara all those years ago and about how the darkness would take over Lynphea. It said that at sunset today, the darkness would be here to stay. Nothing either of those fairies can do will be able to stop it."

"Why does everything have to happen today?" asked Stormy. "The curse on Guinevere becoming permanent at midnight last night, which counts as today, and now this spell being irreversible at sunset. What's so special about today?"

"Because today's Guinevere's 17th birthday," said Darcy. "Everything significant that has to do with her powers apparently has to happen on her 17th birthday. It's a shame really. She has to spend her birthday fighting us, and if all goes in our favor, she won't live to enjoy it."

"Plus, we don't have to do much of anything," said Stormy. "The rain will zap their power dry. Then, they'll have to cope with the darkness."

"They'll have to cope with it, sure, but it won't turn them evil all over again," said Icy. "It'll affect everything except those two princesses, they're immune to it by now."

"But it _will_ drain their energies," said Darcy. "In a world of darkness, there'll be no room for anything good, so their powers will go to the next available magic beings, namely us!"

"What about the rest of the Winx girls?" asked Stormy.

"I'm not sure, but I'll bet you it'll drain their powers too," said Darcy. "All we have to do is make sure Flora and Guinevere can't break the spell before sunset."

Brandon, Sky and Riven had heard enough. They had enough information to report back to the girls, plus they didn't want to push their luck being there. The witches were bound to spot them sooner or later. They started to sneak off back to the palace, but unfortunately, that was when the witches spotted them.

"Hey look, it's a couple of the boy toys," said Icy. "Ladies, while they're here let's show them they can't spy on us and get away with it. Icy Crystals!"

She fired several ice crystals at them, but Sky held his sword up and deflected them. With pinpoint accuracy, he made them fly right back at Icy, however, she made them disappear before they reached her. The three boys, knowing they wouldn't stand a chance against three very powerful, very dangerous witches, ran as fast as they could back to the palace, but the witches could fly, and they were much faster than the boys were.

"And just where do you think you're going?" asked Darcy.

"Away from here," said Sky.

"Sorry, not happening," said Icy. A large dome of ice started forming around the boys. They tried to jump over it but the witches kept firing at them and pushing them back in. They tried to use their swords to break the ice but it was too strong.

"How do we get out of this mess?" asked Riven, smashing his sword against the ice.

"I don't know, but we have to think of something, or else those three will use us to distract the girls," said Sky.

"Maybe we could…" began Brandon, but he cut himself off. He'd seen something that just might help them: a weak spot in the ice barrier.

"Hey guys, look," he whispered to them. "One of us can try to break through that weak spot. If we can do it, we may have a chance at getting back to the girls."

"It's our best shot," said Riven. "We'll have to dash through it at the speed of light though."

"All right, on the count of three, we move, then start running and don't look back," said Sky. "I know that goes against most of what we've learned at Red Fountain, but I don't see any other option.

"One…two…three!" yelled Brandon. Quick as a flash, the three boys covered their faces to protect their eyes, and charged through that spot in the barrier, making it crash to pieces, taking the witches completely by surprise.

"Hey, that's not fair!" said Icy.

"I guess these guys don't play fair," said Darcy. "But then again, neither do we."

"Let's get 'em," said Stormy, and with that, the three witches flew directly after the three boys.

"We have to find cover!" said Sky, dodging a blast from Icy.

"Where?" asked Riven indignantly. "This rain has destroyed just about any cover there is."

"Let's just run for it then!" yelled Brandon, having to dodge a darkness blast.

They ran for a minute, until they saw a maze of rocks up ahead. They dashed inside and split up, hoping to confuse the witches, and get out of there unscathed. They ran all down different paths, and each managed to take shelter under a piece of jutting rock, right before a witch showed up to take them out.

"Hey, where'd they go?" asked Stormy, flying to the center of the maze.

"Who cares?" said Darcy. "We have more important things to do anyway."

"Right," said Icy. "We have to be ready for when those Winx girls show up. Besides, letting the boy toys tell them will make things more interesting. It'll also make it more gratifying to see the looks of despair on their faces when we beat them."

"Good, let's get out of here," said Darcy, and the three disappeared.

The boys waited a few minutes to make sure they were really gone, then came out of hiding, and after making sure everyone was all right, they ran back to the palace. They had to alert the girls of what was coming to them.

--

"What's taking them so long?" asked Stella. She had started to pace again out of worry for the boys.

"What's taking who so long Stella?" came a voice from the stairs. They looked up and saw Flora, Helia and Guinevere walking down the stairs with the Queen.

"What's been going on?" asked Guinevere. She had been smiling to herself all the way down from the Room of Time, both from the good looks her future husband had, and the good fortune that was in store for Flora and Helia. Now, her grin turned to a frown as she realized that three of the heroes were missing.

"Where are Sky, Brandon and Riven?" asked Helia, looking for his friends.

"They went to do a little reconnaissance work," said Layla. "They went spying on the witches and haven't come back yet."

"Don't you think we should go out there and look for them?" asked Helia.

"I was about to suggest the same thing, we can't wait around forever," said Jason.

"We can't exactly go out there and look for them with that rain still pouring down," said Bloom. "It'll drain all our Winx in nothing flat."

"Well what are we going to do then?" asked Flora.

But no one had time to answer her question, for Brandon, Sky and Riven came bursting through the door, doubled up and out of breath. They took the others completely by surprise, but the next instant, Stella, Bloom and Musa had thrown their arms around their boyfriends and kissed them.

"Sky, thank goodness you're all right," said Bloom, holding him tightly.

"Don't worry, I'm fine," replied Sky, stroking her long, red hair.

"Riven, I was worried sick about you," said Musa. Riven just stuttered, not sure how to respond.

"Snookums, what happened to you?" asked Stella.

"We just barely managed to make it back here," he said, trying to catch his breath. They explained everything that they'd heard the witches say, leaving not one detail out. By the time they were done, most had pensive looks on their faces; the rest had frightened ones.

"I forgot my own birthday," said Guinevere. "I didn't even think of it. But we have a bigger problem on our hands."

"You bet we do," said Layla. "Your powers will soon be in the hands of the witches whether or not the witches fight you. And the gate's on the other side of the realm, it'll take us at least twenty minutes to get there, and that's if we fly our fastest. We have to do something before sunset, if you can call it sunset out there. The sun hasn't been out since we got here."

"The sun sets at the same time everyday," said Flora, looking at her watch. "Oh my gosh, it's in an hour and a half!"

"What are we going to do?" asked Guinevere.

"The only way to break that spell is to go out there, combine your magic and use it to break the darkness," said the Queen. "You'll need to keep the witches busy," she said to the group as a whole, then turning to face Flora and Guinevere, "while the two of you perform the counter spell."

"Easier said than done," Flora said silently. She shot Guinevere a sideways glance, and knew her cousin was thinking the exact same thing.

All right, that's another chapter down. I know this one's shorter than a few of the others, but I have to throw some suspense in there, just a little bit. All right, in the next chapter, we're going to have a battle sequence, and Flora and Guinevere will begin the spell to release the realm. Stay tuned!


	13. Chapter 12: Breaking the Darkness

Hey guys! So, we have the witch's plan laid out before our feet. Now, we have to figure out how the girls are going to get past them so that Flora and Guinevere can break the spell on both their realms. I'm going to make this the best battle sequence that I can, if it stinks, bear with me. I'm good at romance scenes, not battles. But I hope you like it nonetheless.

**Chapter 12: Breaking the Darkness**

"Listen to me, both of you," said Queen Tula, speaking very quickly to Flora and Guinevere now. "You can't give up hope. You have to be ready to fight the witches, and force your way past them to get back to the gate. That's the only way to break the spell. The gate between Lynphea and Rampara is the highest point of power in both the realms, that's the only place where any spell on either realm can be reversed. And it's obvious that the witches will not let you close to the gate without a fight." Here she turned to the rest of the group. "And the rest of you will have to be sure that the witches do not interfere while the counter spell is restoring this land."

"If those witches think they can beat us, they're in for a really rude awakening," said Musa, punching one fist into her other open palm. Riven couldn't help but give a small chuckle as he listened to his girlfriend. He'd always loved her attitude, even before he realized that he loved her.

Flora meanwhile, wasn't so confident. Neither apparently was Guinevere. Both had looks on their faces that said they thought something was going to happen that would interfere with their casting the spell. Even though they had seen the vision in the Pool of Infinity, that they would live happily ever after with two wonderful guys, they weren't sure how to get from Point A to Point B, namely complete this mission so they could have their perfect futures.

"What happens if we fail?" Flora asked herself. "Will we get another shot to break the spell? I doubt it, considering we have to do this tonight. It really is a shame that Guinevere has to spend her birthday fighting for her realm instead of celebrating with her friends. I just hope I can help her save her realm and see if I can even try to save mine."

Unconsciously, she began reaching for Helia's hand, hoping to get some comfort from him holding it. He realized what she was doing, and gently took her hand, squeezing it for consolation. Just the feeling of him touching it gave her solace, and she was able to clear her mind, if only for a moment.

And a moment was all she had. For at that moment, a large chunk of plaster was blasted right out of the wall behind them. They turned around to see the witches floating above them, ready to stop them from getting to the gate.

"All right pixies," said Icy. "It's been fun, but we're starting to get tired of our little game here."

"Right, so just give up your powers, and we'll think about sparing your lives," said Darcy.

"For about two seconds," said Stormy. "Then, it's straight to oblivion."

"Think again witches! Let's go girls!" said Bloom, taking the initiative.

The girls were able to transform within a second, and they flew outside the now wrecked wall to begin fighting the witches. Flora and Guinevere had to exercise more caution than the rest of the girls. Guinevere still wasn't used to being back in her fairy form, and both girls now had more power than they'd ever dreamed of, meaning that their attacks were harder to control.

"Flora!" Guinevere called to her cousin. "We can't waste our power on these witches. We have to save it for when we get to the gate. It's going to take every bit of our magic to break this spell!"

"You're right!" Flora called back. "We have to get back there, or we won't have a chance!"

"If you think you're getting even close to that gate, you've got another thought coming," said Icy as she and the other two stood in front of the fairies, blocking their way to the gate. It was then that they realized the witches had destroyed their shields and the rain was pelting against them, quickly draining them of their Winx.

"Now's really not the time to cross us Icy," said Layla.

"But when pixies are in trouble is the perfect time to cross them," said Darcy.

"These three are working my last good nerve," said Musa, shaking with fury at what the witches had been doing over the last two years. They had caused the Winx girls enough trouble.

"Try and keep your emotions in check Musa," said Tecna. "Those three devils will try and use them to their advantage."

"You got that right," said Stormy, who was already thinking of a spell to make Musa even angrier than she already was.

"Enough talk!" yelled Stella. "Sun Burst!"

"Dragon Blast!"

"Aquarius Current!"

But these attacks were weak and they knew it. The rain was quickly beginning to force the girls to power down and if that happened, they were as good as done for.

"We have to cast some kind of reinforcement spell," said Bloom.

"Is there such a thing?" asked Stella.

Flora meanwhile, was trying to think of a way help her friends. Then, it hit her. While most of the girls powers were draining, hers were not. Her new-found powers were making her immune from the draining rain, and the same apparently was holding true for Guinevere. Her attacks were as strong as ever, making them the only ones who had enough power to defeat the witches, for the moment.

"Hold on, I have an idea," she said. She decided to test her new powers by sending some of her Winx to the rest of her friends. She cast a spell that allowed the immunization her power gave her to be sent to the rest of her friends. She felt it being sent to them, and felt them absorb it. Within a minute, all were back to full strength, and ready to take the witches out.

"That feels much better," said Layla.

"You bet it does," said Musa, stretching her arms in front of her. "Let's see, now if I was a witch, what kind of music would I hate the most?" She thought for about a second, then said, "I'd hate pretty much any kind of music."

She created a set of speakers around the witches, blaring out her favorite rock music. The three villains covered their ears, trying to block out what, in their opinion, was the most horrible racket they'd ever heard. But bad for them, Musa heard them complaining about it.

"Don't like it?" she asked. "Why don't we just turn up the volume?"

She snapped her fingers and the music became increasingly louder, making the witches scream out from the pain it was causing to their ears.

"That's enough!" yelled Icy. "Ice Crystals!" She released a burst of cold energy, which stopped Musa's attack, and turned the ground below her into pure ice. She was about to fire it at the girls, but Bloom stopped her in the nick of time.

"We have to wrap this up soon," she said, speaking to the girls. "Sunset is coming up fast, and Flora and Guinevere have to cast the spell!"

"We don't have any time to waste," said Flora. "We only have another half hour left."

"We'll distract them, you and Guinevere get back to the gate!" yelled Bloom.

Flora and Guinevere nodded, and began to fly back towards the gate, but the witches weren't going to give up without a fight. They fired some of their strongest attacks at the two fairies.

"What part of 'you aren't going near that gate,' did you not seem to understand?" asked Darcy, her eyes glowing dark.

By this time, Flora had gotten fed up with this entire thing. She was so angry at the witches for trying to take control of her realm, she was ready to do just about anything to get back at them. Without realizing what she was doing, she powered up her Charmix. Inside her, the 

power of Lynphea stirred, realizing it was time for her to take the power to the fullest. Next to her, the same things were running through Guinevere's mind and her power was growing as well. She too powered up her Charmix and they flew towards the witches ready to fight.

"I'm going to make you pay for everything you've done to my realm!" yelled Flora, her normally calm and serene voice gaining a bitter and angry edge that had never been there before.

"The same goes for me," said Guinevere. "You'll wish you'd never heard of me or the realm of Rampara by the time I'm done with you."

"Ooh, we're so scared," said Stormy sarcastically. "What're you going to do? Pelt flower petals at us?"

Flora nearly screamed in anger at Stormy mocking her powers. "Venus Vine Wrap!" she yelled angrily.

"Diamond Storm!" yelled Guinevere.

The two attacks went flying towards the witches, who had never seen such power and intensity in their lives. They tried to block the attacks, but they were too strong, and they went flying backwards. Without the witches controlling it along to keep it up, the darkness in Rampara and Lynphea started to soften, but it was still all over the place. Knowing that their combined attack had subdued the witches long enough to give them time to cast the spell, Flora and Guinevere flew like wildfire back to the gate. They reached it within minutes.

"They'd better hurry, there isn't much time left," said Tecna looking at her watch. She and the rest of the Winx Club landed on the ground and transformed back into their regular selves, the rain having drained all of their Winx; the spell Flora had put on them had begun to wear off. The boys joined their girlfriends and wrapped their arms around them, all turning to watch Flora and Guinevere.

"How much time do they have?" asked Timmy.

"Only a few minutes," replied Tecna, going extremely pale.

"What do we do if the spell isn't powerful enough?" asked Stella.

"It will be, it has to be," said Bloom.

Helia had walked a few steps away from them, standing in a spot where he could clearly see Flora. "You can do it Flora," he said softly. "I know you can. Know that I believe in you."

Flora and Guinevere, by this time, had each taken their positions. Both girls were standing in the middle of the gate, Flora facing Lynphea and Guinevere facing the Realm of Rampara. They concentrated their energies and power started to resonate from the gate. It was a calm, soothing, restoring power, that seemed to reach into the very farthest corners of the realm, but it still wasn't enough. The darkness had stopped spreading, but it was still too strong and obscure. They would have to come up with some better than this if they wanted to actually get rid of it.

"They have to put more power into it!" yelled Bloom.

"They're using all their energy already!" yelled Stella.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that!" Musa shouted. "Check it out!"

A fierce battle was going on in the gate. The darkness was trying to take over Flora and Guinevere and rid them of their powers. Every few seconds, a cloud of dark matter would try and absorb one of the girls, but she would use her power to repel it. But it wouldn't last forever. They concentrated and concentrated until they couldn't concentrate anymore, each using her strongest weapon against the darkness: memories of her home.

Flora thought of her beautiful realm, how she had grown up playing in the meadows and rolling in the grass, how she had always loved her realm, and how her people had always loved her. She had her wonderful younger sister Rose, and her two best friends, Lily and Iris, who were always behind her, even when she didn't have faith in herself. And she had her friends from Alfea, and best of all, she had Helia, the one she could always rely on for hope and strength, the one she loved more than anyone else.

Guinevere thought about the times in Rampara when her people had been friends with the people of Lynphea. She thought about how she much she wanted her realm to go back to those times and how much she wanted to fulfill what she had seen in the future. She thought of how much she detested what the realm became during Earshra's tenure and how she wished it had never happened.

Then, she and Flora thought together of their realms living in harmony, and darkness never entering either realm again. Their thoughts became weapons, repelling the inky blackness from the two girls, magnifying their powers so that they were able to push the evil back, away from themselves.

"Look around us!" yelled Layla.

They did what she said and saw that the darkness was indeed lessening. Light was radiating from the gate, coming from Flora and Guinevere's own hearts, and starting to spread over both the realms. The lightning and the storms stopped, and the rain stopped falling. The girls could feel their Winx flowing back into their bodies and then kept watching as the two realms came back to life. The plants and trees started growing, all the ruined buildings were miraculously restored, the sky became blue and the sun started shining. For the first time, they were also able to see what Rampara truly looked like, and it was exactly the same as Lynphea except smaller, no longer a place of evil. They had done it!

They won! Yeah! Seriously, we all knew they'd win. There's one chapter left, in it we have a scene with Flora and Helia, and Guinevere becomes a true princess of Rampara. Stay tuned!


	14. Chapter 13: Two Future Queens

Hey guys! So, last time, we had the girls defeat the witches and break the spell over Lynphea and Rampara, and both the realms went back to normal. In this last chapter, we're going to have a really fluffy scene between Flora and Helia, and we're going to see Guinevere fully come to terms with who she really is. This is also going to be the start of a big mystery for Guinevere, which will continue within the next few fanfics. Happy reading!

**Chapter 13: Two Future Queens**

Flora and Guinevere smiled with pride and happiness as they saw the change in their realms; neither had ever been happier. But they'd used up all their energy casting the spell, and were as weak as could be, each just wanting to sleep for the rest of the day and night. They were able to take one last look at their beloved realms, before hovering in the gate for a moment, and drifting gently to the ground unconscious.

"Flora!" yelled Helia. The girl's eyes widened as they saw that Flora wasn't moving, and they all ran to her and Guinevere, hoping against hope that both were all right. Helia knelt down next to Flora, and he held her tightly in his arms.

"Flora, can you hear me?" he asked her softly. But she didn't respond. He gently took her wrist in his hand, and breathed a deep sigh of relief when he still felt a pulse. But that didn't stop him from worrying that she somehow might've hurt herself. "Please answer me," he whispered to her. "Open your eyes."

"Don't worry Helia," said Bloom, putting a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "She's fine, just exhausted. She used a lot of power to break that spell. Let's get her back to the palace and let her rest."

Helia nodded, and gently lifted Flora up into his arms. He was about to carry her back home, but a groaning sound from nearby stopped him. They all turned to see what it was, and saw the witches slowly getting to their feet, all as tired as the girls were. Flora and Guinevere's magic had not only broken the spell on their realms, but had also drained the energy right out of the witches. And when they saw what had happened to all their hard work, they were so mad that they would have attacked in a second, were it not for the fact that they couldn't cast the simplest spells.

"You may have won this round, but the war is far from over," said Icy. "You Winx girls make me sick!"

"That's enough out of you Icy!" said Bloom angrily, beginning to transform again. But Icy and the other two witches had already disappeared. Bloom settled down a bit, but was still ready to be on the lookout for when they appeared again, because those three always showed up again.

"Come on," said Sky, placing his arm around Bloom's shoulders. "Let's get these two home, then get some sleep. I think we've all earned some." Most of the group went back to the palace in Lynphea, Helia carrying Flora every step of the way, his eyes never leaving her face. Jason and Layla, on the other hand, took Guinevere back to the palace of Rampara and found it to be very charming, now that the evil magic around it since Earshra's time was gone.

Layla kept casting jealous looks at Guinevere, whom Jason was carrying back home. Unfortunately for her, he noticed. "Well, at least she doesn't like seeing me with other girls," he thought to himself. "That's got to count as progress."

After putting Guinevere to bed, and making sure that the servants would look for her, Layla and Jason started back for Lynphea, and on the way, Jason asked a question that shocked the girl with him.

"Layla, are you okay with me being your boyfriend?" he asked her.

"Yeah," she said, but she couldn't conceal her nervousness.

"Somehow, I'm not convinced."

"I'm just not used to having a boyfriend. I've always been on my own, no friends, no one I could really talk to. When I came to Alfea, it was amazing because I got five great friends and then when Stella set me up with you, well I didn't know what to think. It took me forever just to get used to having so many friends. I just need to get used to the idea of having a boyfriend."

"But you do like me in that way?" he asked hopefully.

"I do," she said and kissed him on the cheek. Both were blushing furiously afterward, but Jason breathed easier knowing that his affection was returned. Everyone else had already gone to bed by the time they returned to Lynphea, so they just said goodnight, and went to rooms that the king and queen had provided for them.

Back on Rampara the next morning, Guinevere got up fairly early, went to her balcony and looked out over her realm. She had no idea that at that very moment, Flora was doing the exact same thing. It was strange to see her realm this way, the plants growing, the sun shining, the birds singing. Everything was peaceful. She had never seen it this way, but she liked it. She'd never even seen the sun before she left Rampara, and she had to admit that having the rays shine down warmly on her skin was a wonderful feeling. She could hear the birds singing, and people bustling down in the marketplace. To her, these were the best sounds one could ever hear.

Suddenly, she felt a presence there in the room with her and for a moment, she wondered if it was her little sister, Elbereath. But in an instant, she knew it wasn't. She could sense that Elbereath wasn't in the realm, and it felt as though someone was there with her, but she couldn't see them.

"Is someone there?" she asked. No one answered. She could still sense this presence, but a second later, it disappeared as a knock sounded at her door.

"Come in," she said, turning towards the door. One of her mother's servants entered.

"Excuse me Princess Guinevere," said the servant. "Your mother wishes to see you in the throne room."

On her way out, Guinevere stopped and said, "Crystal, do you know where my sister is? I want to see if she's all right."

Crystal replied with, "I'm sorry, but Princess Elbereath has been gone for a few days. I don't know where she might be." Guinevere nodded her understanding, and walked out of the room a little puzzled and made her way down to the throne room, where her mother was waiting for her.

"Guinevere, my baby girl," said Queen Diamantine, giving her a hug. Guinevere hugged her back, a little shocked. Her mother had never shown her any kind of affection before. Until she met Flora, no one ever had. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine Mother," said Guinevere. "I'm just a little tired."

"I suppose you have a right to be," said Queen Diamantine. "I saw what you and Flora did last night. I'm extremely proud of you. Don't look so shocked," she said, when she saw the look on Guinevere's face. "I've been under the spell on the realm, since the day I was born, but someday I knew the realm would go back to being a good one. I didn't like the idea, but you can't stop the inevitable. I knew you were the one who would bring about that change when I saw that you'd been born a fairy and not a witch. When I saw you at the gate with Flora casting the spell, I was angry at first, but then the spell was broken, and I became filled with immense pride. Wonderful job my dear."

"Thank you Mother," said Guinevere smiling. "It means a lot to hear you say that."

"You'll make a great queen someday" continued her mother, her smile simply radiating pride. "I also wanted to talk to you, because I have something to give you. I'm sorry you had to spend your birthday fighting to save your realm. But after seeing you in action yesterday, I found the perfect present for you."

Guinevere gave her a surprised look and said, "you didn't have to do that. I've never gotten a birthday present in my life."

"Well, it's time you started," said Queen Diamantine. "And seventeen is the perfect age for you to receive this." She snapped her fingers and a box appeared out of thin air. She handed it to her daughter, smiling with satisfaction at the look she knew was going to be on Guinevere's face.

Guinevere gave an excited squeal, opened the box and gasped when she saw what was inside, her expression going from excitement to amazement. It was a necklace, a gold choker, made of small gold rectangles and dangling from the center was a beautiful blue-green diamond. It was the necklace Guinevere had seen Isabella wearing in the Pool of Infinity.

"Oh Mother," said Guinevere. "It's stunning. Wherever did you find this?"

"It was in the royal treasury," replied her mother. "I went there last night, knowing you were the perfect person to wear it. It belonged to the first Queen of Rampara, Queen Isabella. She even received it herself for her seventeenth birthday. She was the greatest ruler of our realm. When Isabella died, it went into the treasury for safe keeping. No one else has worn it since, no one else was worthy to. The power of Rampara didn't enter anyone else until Earshra, but she was evil through and through. After all these years, you're the third person to use this power, and you've made the realm good again, meaning you deserve this necklace. Wear it with pride."

Guinevere pulled her hair over her shoulder and turned around, facing the window. She could see her reflection clearly in the glass, her eyes brimming over with tears. She watched as her mother reached over and clasped the necklace around her daughter's neck. It was a perfect fit. "What do you think?" she asked.

"Mom, it's so beautiful," said Guinevere, her tears now starting to fall down her face.

"I knew you'd like it," said Queen Diamantine. "Now, you're a true Princess of Rampara. Congratulations."

Suddenly, Guinevere felt that presence again, the one she had felt in her room, but this time she knew what it was. She could feel the pride radiating from that presence, the pride, the joy and the happiness. It was the spirit of Queen Isabella, as though she was standing right there with them.

"Do you feel that?" asked Guinevere.

"I do," said Queen Diamantine. "It means Isabella is here with us. As long as you wear this necklace, she will always be with you, and will guide you on the long journey of your life." Guinevere didn't even try to hold the tears back as she reached up to give her mother a hug. She then knew what it was that had kept the curse from becoming permanent the day it was cast: Isabella's spirit was there and had tried to make it stop, enabling her to become her good self everyone once in a while. Guinevere closed her eyes and sighed. Somehow, she sensed, she could just sense that Isabella was smiling.

--

That morning, Flora was up before the rest of her friends. She walked out on her balcony and looked at her newly restored realm. She closed her eyes for a minute, taking in the sounds and smells of the realm, letting the wind blow through her long hair. She opened her eyes again, and just stared at her kingdom, a large smile appearing on her face. She had always loved her view, because her balcony was situated over the royal gardens, miles upon miles of every single plant that ever existed. The last two days, she'd thought she'd never see it again. She looked over it, and said, "it's so good to have everything back to normal."

"Princess Flora?"

She turned around to see one of her lady's maids. "Yes Violet?"

"Your mother wants to see you in the throne room."

"Yes, of course. Tell her I'll be right there." She took one last look over the land, and then went downstairs, wondering what her mother wanted to talk to her about.

"Mother, you wanted to see me?" Flora asked when she reached the throne room.

"Yes Flora," said Queen Tula. "Come take a walk with me in the garden. There are a few things I want to say to you." They walked outside and into the garden. After a few minutes of looking at the flowers, she said, "Flora, I saw what you and Guinevere did at the gate yesterday. I'm very proud of you, of both of you. I knew you would be able to save our realm."

"Thank you Mother," said Flora. "It means a lot to me to hear you say that."

"You are just like Lilia," her mom continued. "She was exactly like you in spirit, power and personality. I knew you would be the one to follow in her footsteps and you will be just as good a Queen as she was, if not better."

The smile disappeared from Flora's face and she walked away a few steps. "What's the matter my dear?" asked her mother, wondering what she had said.

"That's the question that's been plaguing my mind since the start of this whole thing," said Flora. "How can I rule over this realm as Queen if I'm the one who allowed the darkness to get here from Rampara in the first place?"

"The darkness is gone now, from both here and Rampara," said Queen Tula. "You and Guinevere were the only ones who could stop it, meaning that you are the true heirs to both thrones. She will be a wonderful Queen of Rampara, and you will be an amazing Queen of Lynphea. I just know it."

Flora smiled again and gave her mother an enormous hug. "Thank you Mother. How do you always know what to say to cheer me up?"

"It's my job to say things like that," she replied. "You may be the princess of this realm, but you're first and foremost my daughter."

Flora and her mother finished their walk, then the flower fairy went back to her room, and continued to look out over the balcony, thinking about what her mother had told her. But there was one other thing that was on her mind, and that was what a vision in the Room of Time from the previous day.

"May I join you?"

She was so deeply absorbed in thought that she gave a small gasp when she heard someone speaking to her. It was Helia.

"Helia, you scared me," she said.

"I'm sorry," he said. "But I just saw you get back from a walk in the garden with your mother. I didn't mean to listen, but I couldn't help overhearing what you were saying. She was right you know."

"About what?"

"About how you're going to make an amazing queen," said Helia, walking up to her.

Flora remembered what they had seen in the Pool of Infinity. She replied with a slight smile, "and you're going to make an amazing king."

"Uh…speaking of that," he said, stammering a little bit. He was obviously very nervous. "Everything in the Room of Time yesterday, what your mother said about us, and what we saw…Flora, how would you feel if we did get married someday?"

"The keyword is someday," said Flora. "I would love to marry you Helia, but not now. I don't think I'm ready to settle down and we're still in school. But I knew, even before we saw the coronation in the Pool of Infinity, I knew you'd be right there next to me. I love you Helia."

"And I love you my angel," said Helia, kissing her. It was then she noticed that he had one hand behind his back as though hiding something.

"What have you got there?" she asked him.

"These are for you," he told her.

He put his hand in front of her, holding a large bouquet of pink roses. She took them, smelled them and said, "Helia, they're beautiful, thank you."

"Now you still have a dinner date to make up," he told her.

"I know the perfect restaurant downtown," said Flora. "Why don't you meet me in the entrance hall tonight, about seven?"

"All right," he said. They went for a walk in the garden, Flora's head on Helia's shoulder, and his arm around her waist. Both of them were glad the danger was finally over.

Back at Alfea, Ms. Faragonda knew Flora and Guinevere's adventure had ended and she was proud of the flower fairy for learning how to use her ancient powers. But she was also thinking about the next girl to learn about their powers. "Get ready," she said. "You girls aren't out of danger yet."

**Author's End Note (read this, it's important!):** I have a couple last announcements to make before we go on to the next fanfic. First off, get used to those end statements made by Ms. Faragonda. You'll be hearing them at the end of every story, so if you don't like them get used to it.

Second, since a few of my titles are really long in this series, I'm going to abbreviate the title down to QPS (Quest for Power Series), so when you see a story with label QPS on it, you know that it's part of my series.

Third, we have two fanfics down and seven to go. The third one will come in a few days, but don't read it unless you have completely read this one and the first one. This is the one where if you haven't read the others, you're going to miss things. The next one is finished, it just needs some editing, so I'll have the first chapter up in a couple of days. I'll let you guys guess who it's going to be about. See you next time!


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